MANILA – Around 5,000 Filipino, American and Japanese soldiers are expected to take part in the first iteration of the "Salaknib" (shield in Ilocano) military exercises which is tentatively scheduled this April, Philippine Army (PA) chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete said at a press briefing on Monday.
This will be the first time troopers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will be taking part in Salaknib since the Reciprocal Access Agreement between the two nations entered into force last Sept. 11, 2025.
The second iteration of Salaknib is slated for June or shortly after the annual "Balikatan" exercises which is scheduled for April to May.
“Salaknib is basically a US and (Philippine) bilateral exercise, siguro (maybe) for the coming Salaknib, 300 troops from the JGSDF will take part in these various training. They will join us," Nafarrete said.
The PA chief said the exercises mostly involve infantry, joint combined arms operation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) and other capacity building programs. The objective of these drills are to ensure interoperability between all the participants.
"Because they know that we are always being visited by typhoons and they are very willing to provide the capabilities (in) HADR. (And) we need (more) training exercises on HADR," Nafarrete said.
Possible venues for the Salaknib are in Northern Luzon, particularly in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, he added. (PNA)