Philippines works to build closer defence ties to Canada as it squares off with China

Jeff Nankivell, CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, says it’s ‘critical’ for Canada to develop trade relations with Asia amid CUSMA negotiations.

OTTAWA — The Philippines is forging closer defence ties with Canada as both countries attempt to limit Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and confront concerns about supply chains and disinformation.

“The bilateral relationship between the Philippines and Canada has entered a new phase, a new era, and I’m very, very optimistic,” said Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.

“We are aligned because the both of us uphold the rule of international law.”

Teodoro spoke exclusively with The Canadian Press during his visit earlier this month to Ottawa. He said he believes Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will visit Canada “sometime in July” to discuss trade, tourism, food and energy exports, including liquefied natural gas.

Teodoro was in Ottawa to sign agreements with Defence Minister David McGuinty on strengthening defence co-operation and mutual logistics support.

“Our defence relationship is rooted in a shared commitment to democracy, the rule of law and a free, open and stable Indo-Pacific,” McGuinty said on June 11.

The two ministers also marked a decade since the Philippines won a ruling at a tribunal that arbitrates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. The tribunal found that China’s historic claims over a wide swath of the South China Sea do not have a basis in law.

Asia Pacific Foundation vice-president Vina Nadjibulla said the Philippines is where Canada has made the most progress on strengthening defence ties under the Indo-Pacific strategy the Liberals released in late 2022.

That’s due in part to Canada’s use of satellite technology to help the Philippines detect both illegal fishing and movements by Chinese coast guard vessels.

“Canada also has a lot of strength in cybersecurity, and as part of the Indo-Pacific strategy there has been a concerted effort to build the capacity of the Philippines when it comes to cyber defence,” she said.

“The Philippines is positioning itself as the front line state when it comes to maritime security and the defence of maritime rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.”

Teodoro said those concerns are driving recent agreements his country has signed with Japan, New Zealand and Australia and faraway France.

“There is unanimity in the need to converge in the Philippines as a staging point, because the Philippines is an area where UNCLOS, the rule of law, freedom of navigation is under stress and being challenged every day,” Teodoro said.

He said the Philippines has a population of 120 million people crammed onto 7,600 islands who need access to a defined maritime zone.

“It’s bursting at the seams, basically. We need all the resources in our exclusive economic zone to secure a prosperous and safe future, for future generations of Filipinos,” he said.

“It is very unfair for China to claim that as their supposed and contrived historic right, when it’s more than 800 kilometres away from their shoreline.”

Teodoro said his country has other maritime boundary disputes with Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, but none of those countries undertake “subversion” as China does.

He said Beijing is driving information operations that seek to undermine sovereignty, even if China dismisses those claims.

Teodoro said Canada could partner more on trade, logistics, critical minerals, energy, cybersecurity and agriculture, because both countries understand the importance of supply chains and protecting underwater cables from being held hostage in a political dispute.

“The danger is there. The imminence, I do not know. But what we need to be doing is to reduce that imminence, because the probability exists,” Teodoro said.

“We share the Pacific Ocean and we know that there are actors who don’t think the same way as us.”

The most brazen example of alleged interference involves Alice Guo, whom a Philippine court ruled to be a Chinese citizen posing as a Philippine citizen, after she won a 2022 mayoral election. Guo was convicted her of espionage but insists she is not a Chinese national.

Teodoro said Ottawa can help the Philippines build better cybersecurity.

“The remoteness of certain communities and their reliance on digital devices makes them vulnerable,” he said of both countries.

China has repeatedly pushed back on claims it is taking an aggressive posture in the region. It claims the Philippines has undertaken “land-grabbing” and caused small collisions with Chinese vessels.

Beijing has also rejected the UNCLOS ruling from a decade ago, arguing it did not involve adequate consultation with China and went outside the tribunal’s jurisdiction. It has urged Canada to stop endorsing the ruling.

The Philippines has said Beijing is picking which UN rulings it abides by and is causing dangerous incidents by not respecting internationally recognized boundaries.

Teodoro’s visit came months before Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to head to both the Philippines and China this November.

In Manila, Carney is set to take part in a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a bloc with which Canada is negotiating a trade deal, along with a bilateral trade agreement with the Philippines. In China that same month, he plans to take part in the APEC summit in Shenzhen.

Nadjibulla also said the Philippines can help Canada calibrate its relationship with Beijing, as Ottawa seeks more economic co-operation while limiting sensitive research sectors and strengthening work with others in national security.

“The Philippines can be a key partner in implementing Prime Minister Carney’s ‘variable geometry’ idea of coalition-building, and purpose-built coalitions,” she said.

That could include work in critical minerals by, for example, having Japan help fund Canadian mining projects in the Philippines that would benefit all three countries.

Nadjibulla noted the Philippines is heading into a presidential election in May 2028 that is already hotly contested, with court challenges and death threats. She said Canada should try locking in institutional agreements so economic and defence work won’t suddenly halt if the government changes.

Teodoro said he doesn’t share those concerns.

“I would not fear any political volatility — let’s put it that way — in the Philippines to affect our bilateral relations,” he said.

“It would be political folly for any leader to put aside these agreements, given that they are based on the best interest of our country.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press