3 November 202
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) denounces the Philippines-Canada Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA), signed on November 2, 2025, by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Canadian Defense Minister David McGuinty. This pact, which allows for the entry and deployment of foreign troops under the guise of training and “cooperation,” is the fifth such agreement, further transforming the Philippines under the Marcos Jr. administration into an armada haven and a war playground for foreign powers. This SOVFA with Canada, coming on the heels of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan, the existing VFA with Australia, and with France waiting in the wings, systematically integrates the country into a US-led war machine, underscored by the provocative deployment of US missile systems on our soil.
Marcos Jr. hypocritically claims at the ASEAN Summit and APEC that his administration follows steady and peaceful diplomacy. Yet he allows the US and its allies to use the Philippines as a military base in the Asia-Pacific. While speaking of peace before world leaders, his government colludes with imperialist powers by signing lopsided agreements like the SOVFA that expand foreign military presence on Philippine soil and waters.
These agreements do not serve national interests but recklessly entangle the country in foreign geopolitical conflicts. By letting the Philippines become a staging ground, Marcos Jr.’s administration drags our people into a war not of our making, turning our land into a battlefield and our people into cannon fodder for imperialist ambitions.
We call for the abrogation of all visiting forces agreements, the removal of all foreign military presence, and an end to the policy that surrenders our national sovereignty and peace to warmongers.
OUR CALLS
1. Abrogate All Neocolonial Pacts! We call for the immediate termination of the new Canada-PH SOVFA, the cancellation of the PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), and the revocation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
2. Launch Mass Protests Nationwide and Abroad! We call on the Filipino people to mobilize and hold protest actions at the offices of the Department of National Defense, the Senate, and the US and Canadian embassies. Our chapters and allies overseas must picket Philippine consulates and Canadian diplomatic posts.
3. Build Broad Opposition Against Imperialist Intervention! We urge all patriotic sectors—students, workers, farmers, women, professionals, Indigenous Peoples and national minorities, church people, and artists—to unite and expose how these agreements make the Philippines a target for war and sacrifice our people as cannon fodder.
4. Uphold an Independent Foreign Policy! We assert a foreign policy that serves the interests of the Filipino people, free from the dictates of any world power, and grounded in genuine national sovereignty, peace, and solidarity with all peoples fighting imperialism.###
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