Philippines helicopter deal raises more questions

A $ 233 million deal to supply 16 Canadianmade helicopters to Philippines strongman Rodrigo Duterte may be dead after a human rights group intervened.

Duterte, elected in 2016, is under investigation by the International Criminal Court for thousands of extra- judicial murders.

An earlier order of eight helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopters in Montreal, was completed in 2015. According to Liberal Trade Minister Pierre Champagne, both the 2015 sale and the deal concluded last week are covered under a 2012 Canada- Philippines memorandum of understanding that Champagne said “suggested” the helicopters were for search- and- rescue operations.

That now doesn’t seem to have been the case. And it is difficult to believe Canadian government representatives were unaware.

Shortly after the initial order was delivered in 2015, the Canadian Ambassador to Philippines attended a christening ceremony for the eight new helicopters. Photos from the event show the aircraft fitted for weapons, painted grey- green — not the bright colours of search- and- rescue aircraft — and clearly emblazoned for the Philippines Air Forces.

And it’s also hard to believe Duterte’s 2016 election — and the killings and abuses that followed — wouldn’t have caused any further deals with Philippines to be flagged for attention.

Worries about how the helicopters were being used were raised to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. In 2017, the International Committee for Human Rights in Philippines wrote Freeland with their concerns. According to the group, Freeland never responded.

Concerns were raised to Prime Minister Trudeau. It appears the second helicopter order was in the works at the time of the meeting.

Yet despite the escalating political sensitivity and the evidence of military use, on Tuesday a second and larger deal was signed by Canada Commercial Corporation, a government agency reporting to the Minister of Trade.

The deal was met with immediate criticism from the human rights group. Same day, Freeland’s department told reporters the equipment was strictly for search and rescue and distributed pictures of brightly painted helicopters.

But those assurances were quickly undermined when, later that day, a Reuters report quoted Philippines Major- General Restituto Padilla saying the helicopters “will be used for the military’s internal security operations.”

On Wednesday, the government was in full damage control, with the prime minister saying the signed deal would be reviewed. By the weekend, the Philippines president said the deal was dead if Canada placed restrictions on the helicopters’ use.

The charitable interpretation of the episode is there was a complete failure of informationsharing between government departments.