U.S. Navy ship to dock at Cagayan de Oro port

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — U.S. naval ships are expected to dock at the Port of Macabalan to join a naval military exercise with the Philippine Army, the city information office announced on Friday.

In an advisory, the city information office said the U.S. ship is expected to dock at Gate 6, though no further details were mentioned.

The arrival of the U.S. naval ship is in connection with the ongoing Balikatan Exercises involving the U.S. military and the Philippine Army in Mindanao.

Earlier, the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) advised that the presence of foreign military vessels and personnel is not cause for concern.

This docking is part of a broader, recently increasing U.S. military presence and planned infrastructure developments, including new naval base projects in Misamis Oriental aimed at strengthening defense capabilities in Northern Mindanao.

Additionally, U.S. soldiers have also been noted arriving at the nearby Lumbia Air Base, a designated EDCA site, for training in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The U.S. and Philippine armies will conduct a two-week naval military exercise focused on territorial defense, which will include simulations of coastal defense and troop deployment.

Major General Michele Anayron, commanding general of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said that a company-size U.S. Army unit arrived on Tuesday at Lumbia Air Base — one of the nine Philippine military facilities designated under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) — for yearly Balikatan joint training with Philippine troops focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

“The joint training will be conducted at Macabalan Bay simulating coastal landing,” he said in a statement.

He added that the two-week exercise, the first in Mindanao, is aimed at providing Army troops basic training in coordinating with allied forces in case of “any eventuality.”

A bus carrying U.S. servicemen in civilian clothes entered Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. The personnel are in Northern Mindanao for joint training with the 4th Infantry Division, focusing on humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) at the designated EDCA site.

Some of the U.S. servicemen were also reportedly seen checking in at several hotels downtown, signaling the start of the scheduled joint training activities in the area.

Lumbia Air Base, the former civilian airport of the city, was later converted into a Philippine Air Force installation and designated as an EDCA site for joint activities between Philippine and U.S. forces.

The visiting troops are in Northern Mindanao to conduct training with Philippine soldiers on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

“This training has nothing to do with the West Philippine Sea or the war in Iran. This is purely training,” Anayron said in a statement.

He was reacting to concerns that the presence of U.S. troops could draw the area into ongoing geopolitical tensions.

He added that soldiers in Northern Mindanao rarely receive this type of specialized training, which is typically conducted by U.S. forces in Luzon during the annual Balikatan exercises.

The 4th Infantry Division said the division has previously hosted joint training with foreign troops.

Last year, troops from the Australian Defence Force trained for a month with soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division in jungle warfare at the Kibaritan Training Complex, a 46,000-hectare military reservation spanning the Bukidnon towns of Kalilangan, Talakag, and Pangantucan.