AMBASSADOR Kazuhiko Koshikawa joined Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana and Armed Forces of the Philippines’s (AFP) Commanding General Lt. Gen. Andres C. Centino at a ceremonial turnover of humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief (HA/DR) equipment at the Philippine Army Grandstand in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on October 6.
This assistance forms part of the Japanese government’s ¥500-million “Non-Project Grant Aid for Provision of Japanese Disaster Reduction Equipment” signed on March 26, 2015. The package included a variety of top-quality HA/DR implements, such as electric hydraulic-rescue tools, which share the main functions as the standard-issue equipment used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).
The JSDF and the AFP will continue to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, including disaster-response capability, for the eventuality of large-scale disasters in an effort to build back better societies, according to the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines.
Said countries are both vulnerable to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and typhoons due to their climate, geography, and topography. As the Philippines’s top overseas development assistance bilateral donor, Japan will continue to support local HA/DR efforts with the evolving threat of natural disasters.