MANILA, March 6 -- The Philippine Army (PA) announced Wednesday that it had deployed a 12-member contingent to the 3rd Japan-Philippine Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) Cooperation Project in Tokyo, Japan.

PA spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala, in a statement, said the contingent came from the 525th Engineer Combat Battalion of the Combat Engineer Regiment.

He said the cooperation project, which runs from March 3 to 9, is aimed at mutually enhancing the HADR capabilities of the PA and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) on various disasters by sharing knowledge, good practices, and lessons learned.

It focuses mainly on four disaster types, which include volcanic eruption, tsunami, earthquake, and flood.

The deleg...