Philippines, Canada sign MoU on defence cooperation

The Philippines and Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, which Manila’s defense secretary said might lead to a bilateral troop accord.

“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,” Gilberto Teodoro, the Pentagon’s secretary of defense, stated

Teodoro did not specify the form or shape of a potential VFA with Canada, but the Philippines already has one with the United States, which lets thousands of American troops to rotate in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises.

The memorandum, the defence ministry said, would jumpstart cooperation between the defence and military establishments of both countries on military education, training exchanges, information sharing, peacekeeping operations, and disaster response.

“The strongest assets we have are the mutual trust and confidence that we have in one another and because we are dealing with each other in a straightforward, open, and on a rules-based manner, such trust is reinforced and will surpass political changes and the tests of time,” Teodoro added.

Report says Canada has supported the Philippines in the face of China’s increased assertiveness in the South China Sea, backing a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that said China’s South China Sea claims had no legal basis. China rejects that finding.

Meanwhile, the signing of the memorandum followed the signing in October of an arrangement between the Philippines and Canada for the use of Ottawa’s Dark Vessel Detection (DVD) system to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by vessels that have switched off their location transmitters to evade detection.

The DVD system will also enhance the Philippines’ maritime domain awareness over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, where it has had a series of maritime confrontations with China.