[Jericho] "was, so far, the sickest patient I have treated in our three days of mission here.  He was very lethargic, in shock and was ... [dying] when he was brought to us.  Without yesterday's treatment, he would have been dead today," Capt. Hickey said as he recalled every detail of the incident.

The dental team led by U.S. Navy Lt. Minh Phan treated 700 patients in the first two days, extracting 1,000 teeth.  Lt. Phan said he was surprised to find that some of the children-patients haven't even seen a toothbrush.  "We teach the kids, as well as their parents, how to care for their teeth, which is part of preventive dentistry.  We will not be here for a long time to give their teeth maintenance care, so they have to learn it themselves," he pointed out.

The combined Engineering Civic Action Program of the exercise was as successful as the medical mission.  At least 20,000 residents of Pampanga and Tarlac benefited from this program.  The RP-U.S. engineering forces turned over to the school officials a four-room, pre-engineered building they constructed at Barangay Sapang Bato Elementary School.  They also rehabilitated the school's home economics building.  They constructed a latrine and a septic tank in Barangay Sta. Lucia Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac.  In Capas, the combined engineers also built a multipurpose building in Aranguren Elementary School.  Finally, they repaired classrooms in Mabalacat town in Pampanga and Aranguren School in Capas.

Four Philippine officers and 64 enlisted personnel and a similar number from the U.S. military took part in the activity.  The 411th Engineering Battalion of the U.S. Army Reserve from Hawaii was the major U.S. player in the engineering projects.

The Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement Commissioner, Minerva Falcon, said at the dedication ceremony for the completed school at Sapang Bato, "Such a great gift you have offered - the gift of education.  CMOs [civil-military operations] [allow] our people to experience more directly the fruits of RP-U.S. training.  This is the stuff that [has been] the cement of RP-U.S. relations for over 100 years."

Exercise BALIKATAN 2001 provided new insights and lessons in the innumerable aspects of conducting effective joint and combined operations - insights and lessons that will better prepare these forces when a real regional contingency arises.

In a message to BALIKATAN 2001 participants at the closing ceremonies, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said, "Men and women of the combined services worked shoulder-to-shoulder and side-by-side.  Participants never wavered in their enthusiasm."  He said that competency and efficiency characterized the two countries' forces, and that the BALIKATAN series of exercises formed a most vital relationship between the two allies.  It "reinforced the spiritual brotherhood and cooperation between the RP and U.S."