Philippine Navy

PH, South Korea navies share best practices vs COVID-19

Rambo Talabong

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PH, South Korea navies share best practices vs COVID-19

HOSTS. The Philippine Navy team assemble for the video conference with their counterparts from South Korea

Philippine Navy photo

The Philippines hosts the first Navy to Navy Talks with South Korea, which has been praised globally for its effective COVID-19 strategy

The Philippines and South Korea shared their best practices in battling the COVID-19 pandemic during their first Navy to Navy Talks (NTNT) on Tuesday, August 12.

The Philippine Navy said in a statement on Wednesday, August 13, that it hosted the first navy talks with the Republic of Korea Navy, which was done through a virtual dialogue.

“This year’s talks focused on the sharing of best practices between the two navies in defense against the dreaded COVID-19 global pandemic while maintaining maritime operational capability,” the Philippine Navy said.

The dialogue was done through a video between the navies led by Captain Jempsun de Guzman, Philippine Navy Assistant Chief of Naval Staff for Operations; and his South Korean counterpart, Captain Lee Han Dong, the head of the International Cooperation Branch of the Republic of Korea Navy.

“Despite the current pandemic, both navies proceeded with the talks, albeit virtually, taking it as an opportunity to explore technologies to continue and deepen their bilateral relationship and diplomatic ties,” the Philippine Navy said.

The dialogue was held under the Terms of Reference (TOR) signed by both parties in 2019. The TOR provides for the conduct of biennial talks on topics of common importance and to promote mutual interests. (READ: LOOK: South Korean warships on friendly visit to Manila)

Why does this matter?

The Philippines has a lot to learn from South Korea in terms of battling COVID-19. (READ: Lessons from South Korea: Transparency, rapid testing, no lockdowns)

South Korea has been praised globally for its containment of the coronavirus because of its strategy of comprehensive testing and contact tracing, while the Philippines recently topped countries in Southeast Asia in terms of COVID-19 cases.

South Korea, which has a population of over 51 million, has less than a thousand active cases to date. As of August 12, it has 14,770 confirmed cases, with 13,817 recoveries and 305 deaths.

The Philippines, which has a population of over 106 million, has 143,749 confirmed cases, with 68,997 recoveries and 2,404 deaths.

As of August 9, the Armed Forces of the Philippines alone has recorded 1,137 virus cases. Over 400 were classified as active cases. – Rappler.com

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Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.