PRESS RELEASE | July 1, 2026
Reference:
Milo Canlas, Interim Secretary-General, BAYAN Canada | +1 (250) 815-0854
Vancouver, BC. — Progressive Filipino alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Canada (BAYAN Canada) led a press conference yesterday, June 30, ahead of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Vancouver, stating that freedom-loving Filipinos in British Columbia do not welcome the corrupt and fascist president.
Marcos Jr. is set to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney and with investors of high-growth industries. The two heads of state will negotiate economic agreements, namely the Canada-Philippines Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.
However, Milo Canlas, interim secretary-general of BAYAN-Canada, warned of the impact of such agreements: “these will fund the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the AFP, which is linked to the highest number of documented killings of land defenders and environmental activists. This worsens militarization in the Philippines and Canada is complicit. In turn, this will make way for the entry of foreign mining corporations.”
Earlier in June, Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro also met with Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty to sign two new military agreements building on the Canada-Philippines Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), which was signed in November 2025. Moreover, Teodoro recently announced that Manila will be hosting the Indo-Pacific Coordinating Center as part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, thereby cementing Canadian military presence in the Philippines.
“Foreign militarization exists to protect foreign interests,” Canlas added, citing that there are several Canadian mining operations in the country.
Erie Maestro, an executive committee member of Filipino migrant rights organization Migrante Canada, also highlighted the struggles that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) experience. OFWs are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and threats to life while working overseas because of the lack of labour protections from the Philippine government for migrant workers.
Maestro cited the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic worker who was falsely accused of drug trafficking, sentenced to death in Indonesia, and has been incarcerated for 16 years. “Mary Jane’s recruiters have been arrested, so why does she remain in jail? Only the president has the power to grant executive clemency. We demand that President Marcos Jr. end this injustice immediately,” Maestro said.
Women’s advocacy organization GABRIELA BC also added that Filipino women bear the burden of a failed system, outlining how Filipino women and their families have been pushed into extreme poverty due to the corruption-caused underfunding of social services. Sophia Gee of GABRIELA BC also cited the recent high magnitude earthquakes that hit the Philippines and how this has affected Filipino women and their families.
“The assistance Filipinos receive from the government during environmental disasters is not enough and we all know that this is because of corruption. More go to the pockets of those in power,” Gee said, adding that Filipino women often bear the brunt of budgeting their already limited finances.
Youth organization Anakbayan BC also expressed that Filipino youth are facing severe economic barriers because of this corruption. Deputy secretary general Clarissa Cox asserted, “constant power outages, substandard materials used to build schools, and inaccessibility of education all deprive the youth of economic opportunities, just to line the pockets of corrupt government officials.”
Cox also cited the recent Negros 19 massacre in April, where military operations in Toboso, Negros Occidental killed 19 Filipinos, including 5 young activists and 2 minors, and displaced more than 600 residents. “The impacts of militarization on the youth cannot be ignored,” she said. She also emphasized the need to investigate the incident for war crimes.
Luthfi Mawarid, chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), also condemned Canada’s partnership with the Philippines. “Canada postures itself as a champion of human rights, but it is very much willing to collaborate and even fund the AFP, the number one human rights violator in the country. What kind of message does that send?” Mawarid expressed.
The organizations remained united in their longstanding calls to hold Marcos Jr. and all corrupt government officials accountable for the billions of infrastructure funds they were exposed for stealing last year. They further asserted that the Marcos Jr. administration’s continued subservience to foreign powers like Canada only contributes to the system that enables corruption, worsens militarization, perpetuates human rights violations, and undermines national sovereignty in the Philippines.
Reference:
Milo Canlas, Interim Secretary-General, BAYAN Canada | +1 (250) 815-0854