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Japan is joining a large-scale joint exercise between the Philippine and US armies for the first time, a top military official said, in the latest of the emerging trilateral defense partnership of the three nations.
A handful of observers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will participate in Salaknib (shield in the Ilocano dialect) — an annual exercise led by the Philippine Army to strengthen the readiness and interoperability with its counterparts from the United States — which will kick off next week.
“We invited Japan to observe Salaknib as an extension of the observer program being done in Balikatan for many years already,” Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told the Inquirer.
The Balikatan is the largest military exercise between the Philippines and the United States, with other like-minded countries as observers.
“It will help our interoperability as land forces,” he said.
Brawner said Japan could gradually send more troops to participate in their joint training in the future once both countries enter into a visiting forces agreement.
