The Philippine Army rescue contingent deployed to Turkey were all trained and equipped by the Japanese government, Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. revealed on Wednesday.

"For your information the troops that we sent to Turkey, our rescue team from the Philippine Army that were sent to Turkey were trained with the Japanese government," Brawner said in a media interview in Fort Bonifacio.

"They were also equipped by the Japanese government so we would welcome more trainors to come into the country, so we will not have a small number of trained rescuers," he said.

Brawner said the Philippine Army is open for possible training of its entire forces to improve its humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) capabilities.

"As much as possible you can train in fact the entire Army and other reservists to the humanitarian assistance and disaster response in a world standard then it will be beneficial not just for our country but our countrymen because as we all know our country is prone to natural disasters," he said.

"We have on average 20 typhoons coming into the country every year so we really have to prepare for this," he added.

Brawner said among the 82 Philippine contingents to Turkey, 21 of them are from the Philippine Army.

"We sent three officers and 18 enlisted personnel. These are veterans already when it comes to HADR operations. They are veterans, they've been all over the country. During the calamities of last year, they were already heavily involved and so as they go to Turkiye...they bring with them several years of experience and this was more enhanced with the training from the Japanese government," he said.

The Philippine contingents that departed the country on February 8 arrived in Istanbul the following day.

As of Monday, the death toll due to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated Syria and Turkey has increased to 26,027 with 90,901 others injured. Robina Asido/DMS