26 July 2026
As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his State of the Nation Address, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Canada stands in solidarity with the Filipino people in their struggle for human rights, national sovereignty, environmental justice, and genuine democracy.
Behind official narratives of economic growth and security lies a different reality. Indigenous Peoples continue to defend their ancestral lands from destructive mining and energy projects. Peasants, fisherfolk, and workers face landlessness, declining livelihoods, poverty wages, and insecurity, while communities resisting destructive development are subjected to militarization, criminalization, and attacks on human rights defenders.
The recently signed Canada–Philippines Strategic Partnership, including agreements on critical minerals, energy, investment, labour mobility, and defence cooperation, must be assessed in this context. While presented as opportunities for economic growth, these agreements risk deepening extractive development, environmental degradation, and militarization unless they are firmly grounded in human rights, environmental protection, and accountability.
For instance, during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official visit to Canada earlier this month, Vancouver-based mining company OceanaGold committed US$1.9 billion to extend operations at the Didipio Mine in Nueva Vizcaya. The mine has faced longstanding criticism over its impacts on water sources, forests, agricultural lands, and biodiversity. Communities have also reported declining agricultural and fishing yields in surrounding farmlands and waterways, as well as the displacement of Indigenous communities. Rather than addressing these concerns, Philippine authorities have red-tagged Indigenous leaders and activists who have opposed the mine. In 2020, the Philippine National Police also violently dispersed Indigenous people protesting the project.
The global demand for critical minerals must not come at the expense of Indigenous rights, ecosystems, and local communities. Likewise, expanded defence cooperation must not contribute to repression or draw the Philippines further into geopolitical rivalries while democratic space continues to shrink.
Canada cannot separate its economic and security interests from its obligations under international human rights law and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As a genuine partner of the Filipino people, Canada must ensure that its policies, investments, and security cooperation uphold human rights, protect the environment, respect Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and hold Canadian corporations accountable for their impacts.
ICHRP Canada calls on the Government of Canada to subject all agreements under the Strategic Partnership to independent human rights and environmental due diligence; require FPIC for projects affecting Indigenous territories; suspend support for projects linked to human rights abuses, displacement, or environmental destruction; ensure corporate accountability; refrain from defence cooperation that could enable repression; and support independent international investigations into extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and attacks on human rights and environmental defenders.
As Filipinos once again hear the promises of the State of the Nation Address, ICHRP Canada stands with the communities whose voices are too often excluded: Indigenous Peoples, peasants, fisherfolk, workers, youth, and human rights defenders. Their struggle for justice, sovereignty, ecological sustainability, and human dignity is a shared struggle.
The Filipino people’s struggle is our shared struggle. Their call for justice demands international solidarity. ###