Story by: Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Loui Jean Aguinaldo, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3

PALAWAN, Philippines – Philippine and U.S. Armed Forces built an 18-by-7-meter schoolhouse in Brgy. Saraza, Brooke’s Point, Palawan, which concluded with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 18, 2023.

The construction of this humanitarian assistance project was a joint venture by U.S. Navy Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3, U.S. Marine Corps engineers of the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, Philippines Seabees of the 3rd Naval Combat Engineer Battalion, and Philippines Marines of Marine Battalion Landing Team 4. Together, they built a 2-classroom building for Carlos M. Virrey National High School.

The schoolhouse will give over 200 students a safe and long-lasting space for education, relieving the schools overcrowded and deteriorating classrooms. Classroom shortage has been a perennial problem in the Department of Education of the Philippines because of several factors such as damages brought by the recent typhoons, population growth, and insufficient funding. It will also provide shelter for local residents as an evacuation center in the event of extreme weather. Throughout the project duration, excess supplies were used to build concrete walkways around the grounds and a new canteen with support of school caretakers.

The ceremony commenced with the singing of the Philippine and the United States national anthems, with the U.S. and Philippine forces formed in ranks together, and opening remarks of Brooke’s Point’s Mayor, Hon. Cesareo R. Benedicto Jr. The building marker was unveiled, and a symbolic key was presented, signifying the official transfer of the school from the project crew to the local community.

The ribbon cutting was attended by the Philippine Commander, Western Command, Vice Adm. Alberto B. Carlos, who expressed his gratitude and hoped for more project partnerships with the U.S. in the years to come.

Project crew leader, Builder 3rd Class Ty Foster, spoke of the challenges faced and overcome by the bi-lateral team.

“I would say that some of the biggest challenges coming into the project were lack of knowledge and experience of some of the crew, but with on-the-job trainings by myself and other more experienced Seabees, the crew definitely pulled it together to construct a building with great quality that they can be proud of.”

As the most junior crew member of the project, Builder Constructionman Apprentice Andrew Lambert said, “I didn’t have any specific skills before this project, considering that I was fresh from A-School, but I did learn a lot of skills, like laser leveling, stucco application, and finishing concrete. Our team worked well together. We all had good days and bad days, but overall, we completed the project on time, and taught each other a bunch of good stuff along the way.”

NMCB-3 is forward-deployed across the Indo-Pacific region conducting high-quality construction for the U.S. and partner nations to strengthen partnerships, deter aggression, and enable expeditionary logistics and naval power projection. The battalion stands ready to complete assigned tasking, support humanitarian aid/disaster relief, and major combat operations throughout the area of operations.