Thank you for that very important question. This is something that's very close to our hearts.
Canada has been a very important partner of the Philippines in terms of development co-operation, but I have observed that the impact of Canada's footprint in the region, especially in terms of development co-operation, which is essentially soft power, is not very evident. I referred to it once as an “invisible” footprint, because Canada engages in many different projects but on a small scale.
We have advocated with our interlocutors in Global Affairs Canada to consult with the national government so that we can work together on development projects that will make a bigger impact. For example, there are the ASEAN SEED scholarships. These scholarships are eight-month research programs. For example, 100 researchers in the Philippines may research 100 different subjects. We were saying that perhaps they could invest in, say, master's degree programs in issues that are important to us, such as marine scientific research, considering the degradation of our marine environment. If Canada could fund 10 scholars doing their master's or Ph.D. in marine scientific research, that would create a very huge and visible impact and be very clear support to Philippine national development goals.