Photo: The Ottawa Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Anakbayan and Migrante Ottawa rally outside the Department of Defence building in Ottawa, Thursday June 11, 2026.
The Manila Bulletin reports: “The Department of National Defense (DND) and its Canadian counterpart signed a logistics agreement designed to ‘put teeth’ into their expanding security alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Canadian Minister of National Defence David McGuinty signed the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA) and a Statement of Intent (SOI) for Deepening Defense Cooperation during a defense ministers’ meeting (DMM) at the Parliament Hill in Canada on Thursday, June 11.”
That news report further notes: “Teodoro described the security alliance as a microcosm of the entire Canada-Philippines relationship, revealing that both nations plan to enter into future partnerships covering infrastructure, critical minerals, energy, telecommunications, and businesses. …The two defense chiefs are also currently working on an upcoming information-sharing agreement to safeguard bilateral operations, according to Teodoro. He said future cooperation will also expand rapidly into cybersecurity, training exchanges, and additional multilateral maritime cooperative activities.”
The Philippine News Agency also reports: “McGuinty said the agreements build on the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) that he and Teodoro signed in Manila in November 2025.”
Photo from Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP Radio DWDD).
“Human rights crisis in the Philippines”
But BAYAN BC cautions: “Continuing Canada-Philippines military partnership will only worsen human rights crisis in the Philippines.”
Sharing this concern, the Ottawa Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP), Anakbayan and Migrante Ottawa rallied in front of the National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa as McGuinty and Teodoro were received by an honour guard, then participated in the signing ceremony and joint press conference.
OCHRP notes: “Teodoro’s term has seen grave instances of human rights violations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) including the bombardments of indigenous communities in Mindoro in January, and the recent massacre of 19 people in Toboso, Negros Occidental in April.”
Military linked to killings of land and environmental defenders
Global Witness and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) have reported: “Since 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment, with mining linked to a third of all killings documented by Global Witness. …The military has been linked to the highest number of documented killings and detentions of land and environmental defenders in the Philippines over the past decade. These abuses have gone unchecked.”
Arms exports and human rights
PBI-Canada continues to make the link between the export of “military goods” and violations against human rights defenders, their organizations and communities. In the context of the attacks documented by Global Witness and Kalikasan PNE, we further note that a delegation from the Philippines attended the CANSEC arms show this past May 27-28, 2026, at the Cohere Centre in Ottawa.
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Instagram post by OCHRP Ottawa promoting the rally held on June 11, 2026.
