Manila signed for 16 Canadian helicopters. Duterte tore up the deal.

A helicopter can be sold as a rescue aircraft and still become a counter-insurgency question. That was the problem with the Philippines’ Bell 412 order.

On 6 February 2018, Canada and the Philippines announced a $233 million agreement for 16 Bell 412EPI utility helicopters. Reuters reported that the deal had been formally signed the previous day. The helicopters were expected to be delivered early the following year. Within one day, Canada’s government ordered a review.

The review followed a disagreement about end use. Canadian Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the agreement had been made on the understanding that the helicopters would be used for search and rescue. Philippine Major General Restituto Padilla, the military’s chief of plans, told Reuters that the aircraft would be used in internal-security operations as well as search and rescue and disaster relief. The mission description changed the political character of the sale.

The aircraft were Bell 412EPI combat utility helicopters. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said their role would be transporting personnel and supplies, evacuating wounded soldiers and supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster response. He stressed that they were not attack or close-support aircraft. He also said that if Canada discontinued the sale, the Philippines would procure helicopters elsewhere.

Those statements were not identical to Ottawa’s concern. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked whether he worried that the helicopters could be used against Filipino citizens. He answered, “Absolutely.” Champagne said human rights was a key element of Canadian foreign and trade policy. The retrieved Reuters report did not publish a final Canadian finding that the aircraft would be used unlawfully. It recorded a review prompted by the discrepancy between the agreed mission and the Philippine military’s stated internal-security role.

The Philippine government disputed the implication. A defence ministry spokesman said it was unfair to equate internal-security operations generally with human-rights violations or to judge the military while allegations remained unverified. That denial matters. The account is about a government’s concern over possible use, not proof that the helicopters would have been used for abuse.

The contract failed through a political decision in Manila. On 9 February, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the armed forces to cut the deal and find another supplier. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported his words: “Do not proceed anymore, and somehow we will look for another supplier.” On 13 February, the Philippine defence department issued a notice to the Canadian Commercial Corporation terminating the contract for 16 Bell 412 combat utility helicopters. Xinhua reported the department’s statement that the Canadian review had precipitated the termination.