Trudeau has sold 16 combat helicopters worth $185m to the Philippine air force despite criticizing Duterte’s human rights abuses

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

When Justin Trudeau met Rodrigo Duterte in Manila late last year, he didn’t hesitate to criticize rampant human rights abuses by the Philippine president’s security forces.

“It’s very much what people expect of Canada and it comes as no surprise when we bring it up,” a smiling Trudeau told reporters afterwards.

Duterte framed it differently. “It is a personal and official insult. I only answer to the Filipino. I will not answer to any other bullshit, especially foreigners. Lay off.”



The icy relationship between the two does not appear to have an impact on business, however. This week it was revealed that – despite Trudeau’s concerns – Canada has brokered the sale of 16 combat utility helicopters worth $185m to the Philippine air force.

Canada is the 15th largest weapons exporter in the world, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and analysts say that Trudeau’s government struggles to put its purportedly progressive standards ahead of commercial interests.

Canadian officials say they are confident helicopters will be used for “disaster relief, search and rescue, passenger transport and utility transport” in the Philippines.



But Major-General Restituto Padilla, the country’s military chief of plans, told Reuters the helicopters would be used for “internal security operations”, prompting Canada to announce a review of the deal.

“There’s this ‘sunny ways’, ‘progressive Canada’ image being sold to the world. But it is increasingly hard to reconcile the government’s foreign policy rhetoric with its practice,” says Cesar Jaramillio, executive director of Project Ploughshares, a Canadian disarmament group. “Our initial reaction [to the helicopter deal] is one of wonder. Why is Canada selling weapons to a known human rights violator?”



Q&A Why is Duterte's war on drugs controversial? Show Hide The war on drugs waged by Rodrigo Duterte is controversial because of its exceptionally high death toll, concerns that innocent people have been killed and a sense that the president and authorities are acting with impunity. According to the latest government statistics, 3,967 “drug personalities” died in anti-drug operations between July 2016 and 25 October 2017. Another 2,290 people were murdered in drug-related crimes, while thousands of other deaths remain unsolved, according to government data. Duterte won last year’s presidential elections after promising to eradicate illegal drugs with an unprecedented crackdown that would lead to up to 100,000 people being killed. Critics at home and abroad say he is orchestrating a campaign of extrajudicial mass murder, carried out by corrupt police and hired vigilantes. He at times denies inciting police or others to kill, but also consistently generates headlines for his abusive language and incendiary comments defending the drug war. Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP

Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, “has the power to deny the permit if it poses a risk to human rights, and she is prepared to do so”, said her press secretary as the review was announced.

Duterte has likened himself to Hitler, boasted that he once stabbed someone to death, and claimed to have pushed a man from a helicopter. Since taking office nearly two years ago, he has overseen a brutal “war on drugs” which Amnesty International believes has killed at least 7,000 people.

“This is not the kind of government you wish to be supporting if you’re Trudeau,” said Srdjan Vecetic, a professor of public policy at the University of Ottawa. “Surely his office has human rights advisers.”



The sale of the Bell helicopters – designed by an American company but manufactured in Canada – was facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, an umbrella organization that sells arms to other countries on behalf of the Canadian government.

This isn’t the first time the Trudeau government has run afoul of human rights issues in its arms dealing. Two years ago, amid domestic criticism, the Canadian government approved the sale of US$12bn worth of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia – a move that made Canada one of the largest arms dealers in the Middle East.



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Allegations soon arose that the use of the vehicles violated the original terms of the sale. Videos posted online appeared to show Canadian-made armoured vehicles used to suppress civilian protests and concerns also grew around the use of Canadian-made vehicles in Saudi Arabia’s war against Yemen.

In response, Canada announced a suspension of the deal.



“That sounds good – because it makes [Canada] look less complicit in what is effectively a genocide. But is a suspension, not a cancellation of the current deal,” said Vecetic.



With polls showing little public support for such arms sales, Vecetic believes there’s a chance Trudeau might lose political capital – and potentially tarnish his well-crafted image.



In addition to its “war on drugs”, Philippines is also battling Isis-allied extremists and Maoist rebels.

All Canadian arms sales must be approved by the government – and Ottawa describes its export controls as being among the strictest in the world.



Jaramillio disagrees, citing what he calls “abysmal human rights record” of the Duterte regime.



“The fact that Canadian equipment is making it to the Philippine military despite those very well-known red flags should raise questions about the strength of our export control systems,” he says.