PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan, Philippines -- Working in 100 degree heat assisting with stucco mixing, carrying weighted cinder blocks and standing up roof beams alongside their U.S. Marine and Filipino counterparts, female engineers integrated seamlessly, April 9, 2012, in a joint effort to build a school at Santa Cruz Elementary School, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines, as a part of Exercise Balikatan 2012 (BK12).
The focus of BK12 is to build the combined interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military in order to enhance their ability to conduct joint planning and respond during disaster relief by providing humanitarian civic assistance in the event of natural disasters or other incidents that threaten public health and safety.
Balikatan, which is Tagalog for, "shoulder-to-shoulder," captures the spirit of the mission with a focus on the Philippine-U.S. partnership, proving that teamwork goes beyond gender throughout the exercises’ 28th iteration.
Marine Lance Cpl. Melinda L. Carbajal, native of Fairfax, Va., currently assigned as a combat engineer to the Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 and the only female Marine serving in her platoon said, "Everyone sees me as an engineer, that's it. My team knows that I'm a hard worker and can do just about everything needed to get the job done on the site, the same goes for my AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] counterparts as well."
Carbajal, who worked as a mechanic at Jiffy Lube in Springfield, Va., prior to joining the Marine Corps in 2010 with her twin sister Melissa Carbajal, also stationed in Okinawa, Japan, participates in her second humanitarian assistance mission this year. She was deployed to Chanthaburi, Thailand for Exercise Cobra Gold 2012 in January.
"Working out here in the Philippines to build a school for the children of this city is an unforgettable experience that we may only get once in a lifetime," said Carbajal.
She added that working with the other AFP counterparts on the construction site is "incredible," pointing out that, "there are not that many female engineers in the Wing in Okinawa, so it's nice to be able to come out and work with other females in the field and exchange expertise with them."
Humanitarian assistance and training activities enables both nations to get to know each other, train together, and provide assistance to local communities.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Navy Seaman 1st Class Myra T. Sordilla, a painter with the 401st Philippine Navy, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines, is responsible for helping to paint the comfort rooms and the interior and exterior walls for the school.
"There are a small number of us so I take a lot of pride in my work," said Sordilla. "The females here work hard, we all do, and we contribute just as much as any other engineer, U.S. or AFP," she said.
Through the hard work of both Sardilla and Carbajal, BK12 continues to enhance military-to-military relations regardless of nation or gender, strengthening our U.S.-Filipino partnerships.