PHL, Canada seal visiting forces agreement amid sea tensions

THE PHILIPPINES and Canada on Sunday signed a military pact that will allow their troops to set foot in each other’s territories, deepening Manila’s defense ties with Ottawa amid lingering South China Sea tensions and just days after the US pledged support to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s deterrence in the waterway.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. and Canadian Defense Minister David Joseph McGuinty signed the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) in Manila, making Canada the fifth country to enter into a troop access pact with the Philippines.

Both sides agreed on the legal provisions allowing Filipino and Canadian troops to enter each other's territories in March this year, with the Canadian government describing the deal as a reinforcement to their 2024 defense cooperation pact.

Senate ratification is required for the agreement to take effect in the Philippines, while treaties in Canada become binding without formal parliamentary approval.

“This is the first such agreement for Canada in the Indo-Pacific region,” Mr. McGuinty said in a delegation meeting before the agreement's signing. “This was a deliberate choice.”

Ottawa has consistently backed Manila’s stake in the South China Sea, one of the world’s most contested waterways, where tensions between the Philippines and China continue to simmer due to overlapping claims.

Beijing continues to lay its sovereignty over the energy-rich waters despite a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed court that voided its claims.