Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. visited Ottawa last week, with Canada and the Philippines signing a Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement and a Statement of Intent on Strengthening Defence Cooperation.
The support arrangement makes it easier to conduct joint exercises, training, deployments, and humanitarian operations. The statement of intent guides “the next phase of their growing defence partnership.”
Both build on the 2024 Defence Cooperation Arrangement and the 2025 Status of Visiting Forces Agreement; they also show that Canada–Philippines defence ties are moving from political commitments toward sustained, operational co-operation.
In a surprise move last week, Beijing slapped sanctions on Teodoro (and his family) while he was in Ottawa. Beijing chalked up the sanctions to an “irresponsible” speech by Teodoro at the Shangri-La Dialogue. In that speech, he criticized Beijing’s conduct in the South China Sea.
Teodoro’s treatment fits into a broader pattern: earlier this month, Beijing imposed travel bans on four New Zealand lawmakers after they visited Taiwan. These cases point to Beijing’s increasing use of sanctions to impose personal costs on lawmakers; the wider objective appears to be discouraging criticism of China and visits to Taiwan.
For Canada, the lesson is that closer engagement with China carries risks for Canadian officials, scholars, and institutions. China’s approach, however, seems to be backfiring; coercion is not hindering closer regional security ties but — in some cases — accelerating co-operation. Canada is building deeper defence partnerships with not only the Philippines but also South Korea and Japan.
