PRESS STATEMENT
July 25, 2026
For reference:
– Jeff Solis, 7782353653 (ICHRP BC Representative)
– Fatima Beydoun, 9024884373 (ICHRP Montreal, Representative)
– Drew Eisenberg Holmes, 6138053666 (ICHRP Ottawa)
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines–Canada (ICHRP Canada) acknowledges the Canadian government’s announcement of CAD 1.7 million in funding to address transnational crime and terrorism threats affecting children in the Philippines, including efforts to protect children from sexual exploitation and recruitment by armed, criminal, and terrorist groups.[1]
Concerns about the recruitment of children by armed or so-called terrorist organizations must be addressed with great care and in accordance with human rights and international humanitarian law. Such claims have, in the past, been used to justify military operations and counter-insurgency measures that have resulted in human rights violations, including the harassment and red-tagging of communities, activists, Indigenous peoples, and humanitarian organizations.
Human rights organizations, including the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), have documented the devastating impact of armed conflict and militarization on children and communities, including displacement and disruption to the lives and livelihoods of affected populations. In August 2024, the CHR expressed concern over alleged consecutive aerial bombings and combat operations in the Cordillera region, reportedly affecting approximately 2,700 residents in Balbalan, Kalinga, and neighbouring communities.[2] The CHR has also documented the violent dispersal of an Indigenous peoples’ barricade in Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya, in April 2020. According to the CHR, more than 100 police officers escorted three diesel tankers of OceanaGold Philippines Inc. into the area, resulting in a violent dispersal that injured several Indigenous people, mostly women.[3]
Children are also among those most affected by economic and environmental displacement. The expansion of mining and resource extraction can threaten ancestral lands, livelihoods, food security, and access to education and essential services, particularly for Indigenous communities. These concerns are especially urgent as Canada and the Philippines deepen cooperation on critical minerals, energy, and natural resources under their new Strategic Partnership. The two governments’ Joint Declaration of Intent on Energy and Natural Resources Cooperation identifies responsible mining, Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ participation, impact assessment, environmental stewardship, mine rehabilitation, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience as areas for cooperation.[4]
ICHRP Canada therefore calls on the Government of Canada to ensure that its growing economic, critical-minerals, defence, and security relationship with the Philippines is grounded in human rights, environmental protection, international humanitarian law, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and accountability.
Canada must not separate its commitment to protecting vulnerable children from the broader realities facing Filipino communities. Children cannot be protected from exploitation while their families and communities face displacement and insecurity arising from armed conflict, militarization, environmental destruction, or the loss of ancestral lands and livelihoods.
As Canada deepens its Strategic Partnership with the Philippines, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government must ensure that Canadian engagement does not contribute to the conditions that drive displacement and insecurity, but instead advances peace, human rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, environmental justice, and accountability.
ICHRP Canada calls on Canada to put human rights at the centre of its Strategic Partnership with the Philippines—and to ensure that the protection of children extends to protecting the communities, lands, and futures on which their lives depend. ###
Sources
[1] Global Affairs Canada, “Minister Anand advances Canada’s relations with ASEAN members,” July 2026. The announcement states that Canada is providing $1.7 million to address transnational crime and terrorism threats affecting children in the Philippines. The initiative, implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is intended to protect children from sexual exploitation and recruitment by armed, criminal, and terrorist groups.
[2] Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR), “Statement of the Commission on Human Rights on the alleged consecutive aerial bombings in the Cordillera region,” August 20, 2024. The CHR expressed concern over alleged aerial bombings and accompanying combat operations conducted as part of counter-insurgency operations, reporting that approximately 2,700 residents in Barangay Maling and neighbouring barangays in Balbalan, Kalinga, were reportedly affected.
[3] Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, “Statement of CHR Spokesperson, Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia, on the violent dispersal of Indigenous Peoples’ barricade in Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya,” April 7, 2020. The CHR reported that more than 100 police officers escorted three diesel tankers of OceanaGold Philippines Inc. into Barangay Didipio, Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, and that the incident resulted in a violent dispersal that injured several Indigenous people, mostly women.
[4] Natural Resources Canada, “Philippines and Canada Joint Declaration of Intent on Energy and Natural Resources Cooperation,” signed June 30, 2026 and published/dated July 2, 2026. The declaration identifies areas of cooperation including responsible mining practices; Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ participation, partnership, and benefits-sharing; impact assessment; environmental stewardship; mine rehabilitation and closure; biodiversity conservation; and climate resilience.
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