Yes, I think the visiting forces agreement that is being negotiated, which will put Canada's soldiers on the ground, is already a danger sign that Canada will be involved in the counter-insurgency campaign of the government.
The whole-nation approach of the government is the driving cause of human rights violation in the Philippines. They have the task force to end local communism. That's very dangerous, because a lot of us, including people here in Canada, are being red-tagged just because we're promoting peace and because we're promoting human rights. The moment you say that, the government and the military tell you that you are part of this insurgency.
I think it's important that Canada doesn't get embroiled in those kinds of dynamics that are happening in the Philippines. By directly supporting a military with a history of human rights violations and abuses for decades, I think Canada is becoming directly complicit in what is happening now in the Philippines.
People are saying that there is a big improvement between Duterte's government and the Marcos government. It is not true. In fact, the drug war continues. It's now the biggest topic in the senate of the Philippines, but the killing continues—particularly extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrests and so on.