The Philippine Army (PA) joins the Filipino nation in commemorating the 66th anniversary of the normalization of post-World War II Philippine-Japan diplomatic ties last Saturday.

Over the decades, the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF) has become one of the key partners of the Army in beefing up its disaster-response capabilities. Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense of Japan Vice Minister Tsuyohito Iwamoto reaffirmed the Japanese government’s commitment to helping beef up the Army’s disaster response capabilities during his visit to the 525th Engineer Combat Battalion’s (525ECB) headquarters in Fort Bonifacio on July 18.

The visit and equipment inspection came nine months after the Japanese government donated P51 million worth of water search and rescue, collapsed structure search and rescue, and crushed vehicle extrication and rescue equipment to the Army. The Army and JGSDF also conduct regular subject matter expert exchanges in a spectrum of military operations.

The official normalization of diplomatic ties between the two nations came more than a decade after the end of World War II in the Pacific Theater.

The Treaty of Peace between the two nations came into force in respect of the Philippines on July 23, 1956, according to the Philippine government’s official gazette.

The defense partnership between the Philippines and Japan is anchored on the Memorandum of Agreement on Defense Cooperation and Exchanges signed by high government officials from both countries on 2015 in Tokyo, Japan, coinciding with the Japan-Philippines Defense Ministerial Meeting. PA and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force subsequently signed a Terms of Reference in June 2015 which laid the groundwork for Army-to-Army engagements. Chief, Army Public Affairs