ICC arrest of Duterte raises questions about CANSEC and the export of “military goods” to the Philippines
Photo: A delegation from the Philippines, led by Defense Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Teodoro Cirlo Torralba III, at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa on June 1, 2017. The sale of Bell-manufactured helicopters was finalized in December 2017. That sale was suspended in February 2018 after media coverage drew attention to the human rights implications of this sale.
ABC News reports: “Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was detained on Tuesday [March 11, 2025] under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, which accused him of crimes against humanity in connection with the brutal ‘war on drugs’ he led while in office… Members of the Philippine National Police met the former president as he arrived in Manila, the capital, on a flight from Hong Kong.”
The ICC investigation of Duterte began on February 8, 2018.
Following the arrest of Duterte, the Ottawa-based Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP) highlighted: “Duterte’s Drug War (2016-2022) resulted in approximately 30,000 deaths, and hundreds more were killed in his counterinsurgency campaign – as documented by human rights groups – with many victims being extrajudicially executed in what amounted to state-sanctioned murder.”
Canada exports “military goods” to the Philippines
Duterte was the president of the Philippines from June 30, 2016, to June 30, 2022.
During that period, Canada exported about $7 million in military goods to the Philippines ($6,050,640.67 in 2016, $3,219.78 in 2017, $175,497.00 in 2018, $458.00 in 2019, $18,100.00 in 2020, $399.95 in 2021, and $385,000.00 in 2022).
Human rights defenders targeted in the Philippines
Yesterday, OCHRP further noted: “Duterte’s military and police forces (the same as those commanded by current President Marcos Jr.) have participated in red-tagging union organizers, peasant leaders, faith workers, and indigenous land defenders.”
Global Witness has also documented that 17 land and environmental defenders were killed in the Philippines in 2023 and that 298 were killed between 2012 to 2023.
Despite these ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines, Canada exported $514,604.48 of military goods to the Philippines in 2023.
The figures for 2024 will be made public by Global Affairs Canada around the time of the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this coming May 28-29.
Has Canada raised concerns?
On November 11, 2017, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau was asked if he would raise human rights concerns with Duterte during the ASEAN summit in Manila on November 10-14, 2017. Trudeau replied: “There are a range of issues that I could bring up with him, that I may bring up with him, if we have an opportunity. There’s always human rights concerns to bring up with a wide range of leaders.”
On November 12, 2017, then-Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland also commented: “[Canada has] some serious concerns about human rights violations and violations of due process in the Philippines. If we get the opportunity, we will talk about these issues.”
Trudeau reportedly did raise his concerns with Duterte and later claimed that Duterte “was receptive to my comments [about extrajudicial killings] and it was throughout a very cordial and positive exchange”.
Photo: Trudeau meets with Duterte and his partner Honeylet Avancena on November 12, 2017. Photo by Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press.
Canada planned to sell Bell helicopters to the Philippines
On February 8, 2018, The Guardian reported: “This week it was revealed that – despite Trudeau’s concerns – Canada has brokered the sale of 16 combat utility helicopters worth $185m to the Philippine air force.”
That article adds: “The sale of the Bell helicopters – designed by an American company but manufactured in Canada [at the Bell plant in Mirabel, Quebec] – was facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, an umbrella organization that sells arms to other countries on behalf of the Canadian government.”
The following day, February 9, 2018, the CBC reported: “Earlier this week, Reuters reported the Philippines inked a $233-million deal to buy Montreal-built Bell helicopters. Other reports said the deal was worth up to $300 million. The Canadian Commercial Corporation, which facilitated the deal, wouldn’t confirm the cost.”
Review of the deal
That CBC article adds that following this media attention about the sale of these helicopters: “International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced [on February 6, 2018] he had ordered a review of the deal, which was finalized [on December 29, 2017], after a senior member of the Philippines military said the aircraft would also be used in ‘internal security operations’.”
And yet at that time, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for plans Major Gen. Restituto Padilla countered: “The AFP deal for the acquisition of the Canadian Bell 412 as a combat utility helicopter is a very transparent one. From the very onset, the contract has specified that we are acquiring a CUH.”
“Disingenuous” position of Canadian government
On February 25, 2018, McMaster University professor Netina Tan and graduate student Marvin Mercado commented in The Conversation: “The timing of Trudeau’s public criticism of Duterte’s extra-juridical killings in November 2017 at a Manila summit and the re-signing of the helicopter deal with the Philippines in December 2017 shows a clear disjuncture in public speech and arms trade policy.”
Tan and Mercado further note: “It doesn’t take a security expert to point out that in the Philippines under Duterte’s leadership, the helicopters were likely to be used for combat purposes. There has been major news coverage of the Philippines’ bloody internal conflicts and extra-judicial killings. It would be naïve, if not disingenuous, for the Liberal government to defend its position by arguing that the helicopters would be used only for search-and-rescue and disaster relief.”
Duterte had also publicly threatened to throw officials out of a helicopter
On December 27, 2016, then-president Duterte commented: “If you are corrupt I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out. I have done this before, why would I not do it again?”
Signing ceremony
On April 30, 2018, National Post journalist David Pugliese reported: “The Philippine government never hid its intention to use the Canadian-built helicopters in military operations, even going as far as displaying the first batch of those choppers armed with machine guns during an official ceremony in 2015 attended by Canada’s ambassador.”
Photo: Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines, H.E. Neil Reeder (third from the left) at ceremony, August 2015.
Bell tried again to sell the helicopters
On April 30, 2018, the National Post reported: “Just months after a contract to sell military helicopters to the Philippines was cancelled, a Canadian firm is hoping it can revive the controversial deal. … Bell says it is now back in discussions with the Philippines as a potential client for the same helicopters.”
On May 18, 2018, Pugliese further reported: “The Canadian Commercial Corporation acknowledges it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights. …The CCC confirmed this in its email, saying it ‘merely provides contracting assistance to Canadian exporters’ and that it is those companies [in this instance, Bell] who are legally bound by the terms of the export permit issued by the Canadian government.”
The CCC office is at 350 Albert Street, Suite 1100, in Ottawa.
CANSEC, May 28-29
The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), that facilitated the helicopter sale, and Bell Textron, the manufacturers of the helicopter, are both members of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI).
Image: CADSI is funded by Global Affairs Canada.
CADSI is the Ottawa-based lobby group that organizes the annual CANSEC arms show at the EY Centre in Ottawa.
The Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP) is one of the organizers of the upcoming Shut Down CANSEC protest. Look for updates about this mobilization on Instagram here.
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