PRESS RELEASE NO. 61-2023

1 June 2023, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA  – Consul General Emil Fernandez received the Philippine delegation to the Mutual Defense Board – Security Exchange Board (MDB-SEB) Executive Committee, headed by Major General Jeffrey Hechanova, PAF, J5.  The Philippine delegates are in Honolulu to discuss and plan the 2024 activities of the MDB-SEB, which will be presented to the Executive Board for approval during its meeting in the Philippines this September. 

The MDB was established in 1958, while the SEB was established in 2006. The two boards together form the annual MDB-SEB, which coordinates a framework for defense and security cooperation between the Philippines and the United States militaries.

The other members of the delegation included Brigadier General Llewillyn Banaag, PAF, Commander, 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing / SME on SAR Helicopter Acquisition; Ms. Katrina Isabelle Borja-Martin, DFA-OAA Director; Colonel Benedict Balaba, PA, J2; Colonel Ryan Reynie Sonza, PAF, A5; and Ms. Xeline Cipriaso of the Department of Defense.  Undersecretary Pedro Cesar Ramboanga, Executive Director of the Philippine Commission on Visiting Forces and Colonel Roderick Balbanero, PA, Ex-O, OJ10, joined the delegation as Observers.  Also present during the call were Consul Grace Bulos, Captain Aldrin Doctor, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Liaison Officer to the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), and Colonel Jay Baquiran, AFP Assistant Liaison Officer to the US INDOPACOM.  END.