The annual humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise, Pacific Partnership, returns to the country in San Fernando, La Union from August 22 to 31.

Now on its 18th staging, Pacific Partnership 2023 (PP23) is the US’ largest annual multinational HADR exercise aimed at enhancing preparedness and interoperability with seven host partner nations in the Indo-Pacific.

The exercise will feature HADR; medical, dental, and veterinary; and engineering activities.

The HADR facet will focus on mountain search and rescue, urban search and rescue, and water search and rescue.

Refreshers on Basic Life Support, Incident Command System, and Operations Center Management will also be conducted. A culminating training on an earthquake-tsunami response scenario will also be conducted to round up the HADR exercises.

Medical and dental civic action programs will focus on exchanges and community education that will help build resilience and enhance capabilities to respond to HADR needs. Topics include public health, infectious diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, forensic dentistry, oral surgery, and diet and nutrition.

Engineering projects are also lined up and will be performed by the American, Korean, and Filipino military engineers to address critical infrastructure concerns.

“We welcome our ally and partners as we embark in another opportunity to build strong, stable, and resilient communities,” Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto, chief of the Public Affairs Office, said.

“This exercise underscores our commitment to regional stability, disaster response readiness, and the well-being of every Filipino and our neighbors. With our partners, this will help us hurdle challenges by fostering goodwill and fostering safer, more resilient communities for generations to come," Ileto said. AFP