Statement
November 14, 2025
On November 2nd, the governments of Canada and the Philippines announced the signing of a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA). A Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries is an agreement to have closer military ties, making it easier for the armed forces of the two countries to work together.
Canada becomes the fifth country with a VFA deal with the Philippines. The Philippines’ defense network has expanded considerably in recent years—three of those agreements were signed only in the past two years. Manila is a treaty-ally of the United States, bound by a Mutual Defense Treaty and a VFA. The Philippines has SOVFAs with Australia and New Zealand, and a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan. The agreement has also been signed simultaneously to an announcement of the intention of the Philippines, United States, Australia, and Japan to establish the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense Cooperation Council.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns this agreement which is purported to ‘ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific’. It will do the opposite, and further heighten tensions between the USA and China in the South China Sea.
These military agreements further embolden the fascist Philippine military to violate human rights and international humanitarian law against valiant Filipinos who are defending their national sovereignty and longing for genuine democracy, social justice, and a just peace. These agreements amplify the increasing US militarization of the Asia-Pacific and do nothing to further peace in the region. These agreements are a complete betrayal of human rights and international humanitarian law. Their sole objective is to preserve failing US economic and geo-political dominance in the region and not human rights.
Tensions are high in the South China Sea – West Philippine Sea with both China and the US using the waters around the Philippines as a zone for their ongoing competition for influence in the region. The US and its allies, including Canada, are becoming increasingly provocative in the region, flying patrols 10,000 kms off the North American mainland and carrying out military drills that were clearly orchestrated to goad China. Further, the US has recently announced the planned construction of an ammunition manufacturing and storage hub in Subic Bay to forward-base munitions stockpiles and related materials. The US has also deployed advanced ground-based missile systems to northern Luzon, including the Mid-Range Capability system (capable of firing Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles) and Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers targeting the Chinese mainland.
As Canada lines up with New Zealand, Australia and the USA, in the struggle for control of the South China Sea, the prospects for peace diminish and the people of the Philippines find themselves in the dangerous position of being on the front line in the escalating tensions between two superpowers. According to ICHRP Chair Peter Murphy, “The China containment question seems to be the only consideration in the equation – there is no consideration of the risk of being drawn into the Philippines’ internal civil war, where under repeated regimes the Philippine military has a record of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.”
In the interests of peace for the people of the Philippines, ICHRP calls on the government of Canada to uphold an independent foreign policy, to terminate the VFA, and to use its diplomacy and influence to call for a just peace in the Philippines. We further call on people around the globe to rise up in opposition to the growing war mongering of the US and its allies in the Asia-Pacific.
