Canada sells 16 choppers worth US$235 M to PH

The Philippines has bought 16 new Bell helicopters from Canada for about US$235 million to strengthen its fight against Islamic militants and other domestic insurgencies, defense officials said. The two governments announced the deal less than three months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clashed with host President Rodrigo Duterte over Philippine drug war killings, on the sidelines of a Manila summit. The Philippine defense department signed the R12-billion (US$234.8 million) Bell 412EPI deal with the state-run Canadian Commercial Corp., with deliveries set to start in nine months, ministry spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP. “These are multi-purpose aircraft for anti-terrorism as well as HADR,” he said, using military lingo that refers to disaster response and humanitarian missions. “These (helicopters) are a real benefit to Filipinos,” Canadian ambassador John Holmes said on the mission’s Facebook page, adding it would boost Manila’s “search and rescue and disaster relief capabilities.” (AFP)