MANILA (AP) – Canada and the Philippines are in the final stages of negotiating a key defence pact that would allow their forces to hold larger military drills, said the Canadian ambassador to Manila.
Canada has been reinforcing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region and has committed to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment.
That dovetails with Philippine efforts under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to broaden defence ties with friendly countries to bolster his country’s external defence.
Canadian Ambassador David Hartman said that his country and the Philippines were “in the final stages of the negotiations of our status of forces visiting agreement that will enable us to have even more substantive participation in joint and multilateral training exercises and operations with the Philippines and allies here in the region.”
Hartman spoke before Philippine national security officials, foreign ambassadors and defence attaches aboard the HMCS Ottawa, a Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate on a port visit to Manila. The vessel will take part in a joint exercise off the Philippines next week, he said.
The Philippine military has staged multinational patrols and drills since last year with counterparts from the United States (US), Japan, France, Australia and Canada. In August last year, Canada joined the US, Australia and the Philippines in air and naval manoeuvres.
Canada signed an agreement on defence cooperation with the Philippines last year. Another agreement signed in Ottawa in 2023 gave the Philippines access to data from Canada’s “Dark Vessel Detection System”, which harnesses satellite technology to track illegal vessels even if they switch off their location-transmitting devices.
The Philippines has visiting forces agreements, which provide a legal framework for temporary visits of foreign troops and large- scale combat exercises, only with the US and Australia. In July last year, the Philippines signed a similar accord with Japan, which still needs to be ratified by Japanese legislators.
The Philippines is in separate talks over defence pacts with France and New Zealand.
