The Philippines and Canada are stepping up work on a pact to govern their military forces during joint defence drills.
The two countries are anticipated to reach a deal akin to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the U.S. either within the year or 2025.
Canadian and Philippine authorities spoke about a likely accord in the wake of a landmark defence pact between the Philippines and Japan on July 8, 2024.
The Philippine-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) allows entry of troops in their respective countries.
David Hartman is Canada’s Ambassador to the Philippines, and he referenced the RAA in a July 19 interview with digital news platform NewWatch Plus.
Hartman gave indications on the timeline to reach an agreement in the interview, as reported by the Manila Bulletin.
“Ideally, certainly, within the next year. I mean ideally, frankly before the end of the calendar year. That certainly would be the level of our ambition again to conclude this so quickly,” the Canadian diplomat said.
Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Secretary of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines, signed the RAA with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
In an interview with the ANC news channel, Teodoro Jr. said that the Philippines is looking to forge troop access agreements with Canada as well as with France and New Zealand.
Teodoro Jr. expressed hope that the agreements could be signed in 2025.
“It is close to the apex of a defensive alliance,” the Philippine defense secretary said in the ANC interview, as reported by Reuters.
The Philippines and U.S. entered into a VFA in 1998, and this was ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1999.
The Philippine-U.S. VFA sets the rules for visiting American and Filipino military personnel.
In 2014, the two countries signed an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement allowing the U.S. to place its military forces on agreed bases or locations in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Philippines and Canada have been working to ramp defence and military cooperation.
On January 19, 2024, Philippine defense chief Teodoro Jr. and Canadian envoy Hartman signed a memorandum of understanding to lay the ground for closer military ties.
“I’m glad to hear that there is a strong intention on both sides to deepen and strengthen the relationships by forging new milestones in our defence relations to culminate, perhaps, with the Visiting Forces Agreement [VFA],” Teodoro Jr. said in a statement at the time.
Canada participated as observer in the biggest military exercise so far between the Philippines and U.S., which was held from April 22 to May 10, 2024.
More than 16,000 Filipino and American troops trained together in Balikatan 2024. “Balikatan” is a Filipino word meaning “shoulder-to-shoulder”.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) hosted an international observer program for Balikatan 2024, with 14 countries participating, including Canada.
The other observer-nations are Brunei, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Moving on, Canadian Minister of National Defence Bill Blair recently concluded a visit to Asia to boost defence cooperation with Indo-Pacific nations, including the Philippines.
Blair traveled to Singapore from May 31 to June 2, 2024 to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a global think tank.
At the sidelines of the event, Blair met with Teodoro Jr.
A Government of Canada media release on June 2, 2024 noted that in his meeting with Teodoro Jr., Blair “recognized that 2024 marks 75 years of Canada-Philippines diplomatic ties”.
Blair also “reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to growing bilateral defence relations”.
“The Minister and Secretary discussed the defence cooperation activities outlined in the Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding signed in January 2024 and the implementation of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy,” the media release stated.
The Philippine News Agency reported on June 1 that in his meeting with the Canadian defence minister, Teodoro Jr. of the Philippines reaffirmed the “long, enduring friendly relations” between the two countries.
Also, Blair strongly lauded the Philippines for forging defense and security alliances with countries such as the U.S., Japan and South Korea.
“Canada has a major role to play in the Indo-Pacific region,” Teodoro Jr. said in return in the PNA report.
Regional security is a major plank in the Indo-Pacific Strategy rolled out by Canada on November 27, 2022.
“Canada will increase our military engagement and intelligence capacity as a means of mitigating coercive behaviour and threats to regional security,” the strategy states.
Canada also intends to “make meaningful contributions to the region’s security and defence and enhance … defence and security relationships with regional partners and allies”.
By Carlito Pablo