PHILIPPINES
Military Exports from Canada (1990-1999)
Year
Military Value of
Equipment Military
Types Exports
1999
1,10 436,600
1998
10 1,069,175
1997
1,8 184,860
1996
1,3,8,10 2,940,826
1995
1,8,13 348,99
1994
- 0
1993
- 0
1992
- 0
1991
10 2,910
1990
10 115,224
Total $4,749,595
Sources: Export of Military Goods from
Canada, Annual Reports 1990-1999. Published by the Export Controls Division,
Export and Import Controls Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, Government of Canada. Web site: <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/~eicb/>
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Examples of Canadian Military Exports (1990s)
Para-Ordnance Manufacturing Inc.
• Handguns
Value
unknown (date unknown)
Ploughshares Monitor, Sept 1999
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Canadian Government Promotes Military Exports
One of the main roles of Canadian embassy in
Manila is "to promote the export of Canadian products and
business/professional services."
To this end, the embassy provides "up-to-date market reports,
market intelligence, export strategies, marketing methods and regional contacts
pertaining to a wide range of market sectors.
Officers can provide specialized information and individual counseling
to help penetrate the regional market." The embassy's website includes an "Aerospace and Defence
Sector Profile" which says: "Market Opportunities: The Armed Forces
of the Philippines has authorized the 15-year Modernization Program. The modernization
process will include the acquisition of new equipment and systems in several
areas of operations such as missile systems and new patrol vessels." In "Philippines Aircraft Engines and
Parts," DFAIT states that a "top priority of the modernization
program is the acquisition of a modern jet fighter squadron."
Source:
<http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/manila/english/tni/tni05-02.asp>
and <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/geo/html_documents/47007-e.htm>
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Military Trade Show
The Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (DFAIT) has promoted the International Aviation, Maritime
and Defense Exhibit (AMD) held in Manila. [The next show will be in April 5-8,
2001.]
Sources: "Philippines Aircraft Engines
and Parts" <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/geo/html_documents/47007-e.htm>
and "Philippines Avionics" <http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/geo/html_documents/47008-e.htm>
-----------------------------------
Human Rights Violations (1999)
In June, the peace talks’ consultant
representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing,
the New People’s Army (NPA), was arrested without a valid warrant. Armed confrontations between security forces
and the NPA increased.
Counter-insurgency operations reportedly led to at least 14
extrajudicial executions and 8 incidents of torture or ill-treatment by
military or militia units.
Aerial
bombardment of villages suspected of harbouring members of armed opposition
groups led to mass displacements of civilians, especially in Mindanao. With the
end of the peace talks, the pace of the amnesty program for former members of
armed opposition groups slowed still further. At least 150 political prisoners
remained in detention. Most were held
on criminal charges, particularly illegal possession of firearms, robbery and
murder.
Impunity
Concerns increased that a climate of impunity
protecting police and other officials from effective prosecution for alleged
human rights violations was becoming further entrenched.
Extrajudicial
executions by police of suspected criminals were reported in Manila, Davao and
other provincial towns. In March,
charges were dismissed against 27 police allegedly involved in the 1995
extrajudicial execution of 11 in police custody. Key witnesses, including former police officers, withdrew
affidavits. In November, one of the
former accused became head of the National Police (NP).
In
July, an NP Colonel was convicted of killing a suspected criminal in a Nueva
Ecija hospital. The victim was wounded
and four others killed in an operation allegedly led by the Colonel.
One
possible “disappearance,” allegedly by security personnel, was reported. At least 1,600 “disappearances” reported
since the early 1970s were unresolved.
Attempts by victims’ relatives to discover the truth and seek justice
were unsuccessful.
In
a rare test case, the family of a man who “disappeared” in southwest Mindanao
in 1986 who was later exhumed, filed a court case in January. No hearings took place by year’s end. Family members and potential witnesses were
reportedly threatened by the alleged perpetrators.
Economic development
Ill-treatment, use of excessive force and
possible extrajudicial executions by the police were reported in labour or land
disputes as well as during forced evictions from poor urban areas and from
rural indigenous communities. Deliberate
and arbitrary killings were carried out by private security guards with the
apparent connivance of local officials and police.
In
May, a farmer and his wife were killed when men fired at their house in
southwest Mindanao, reportedly after they refused to sell their land. The perpetrators were said to include
security guards from a local logging company and members of the armed forces.
Source: Amnesty International Report 2000.
<http://www.amnesty-usa.org/ailib/>
-----------------------------------
Labour Rights Violations (1999)
President Estrada’s Task Force to review the
Labour Code, abolish the minimum wage, make it easier to sack workers, further
liberalise contracting-out laws, lower labour standards and abolish security of
tenure, included businesses but had no union input.
Export Processing Zones (EPZs)
Employers routinely sack and blacklist
unionists and threaten to close companies if they unionise. Fewer workers had rights because they were
employed on contract, part-time or through an agency. Very few unions exist in the zones, employing 175,000. “No union, no strike” policies are enforced
by foreign investors, local governments and zone administrators.
Widespread
violations of workers’ rights occurred in Bataan EPZ where the Trade Union
Congress (TUC) organised a union at the
multinational, Monasteria Knitting. The
firm threatened and transferred workers and used intimidation and coercion to
block union efforts. Guards kept
government inspectors out. Four
Taiwanese firms in textile, electronics and golf course sectors appealed
against orders for union elections. 187
unionists were fired. In six US- and
UK-owned firms, labour/management committees were imposed instead of
unions.
The
TUC organised a union in Coastal Subic Bay Terminal, a fuel storage company,
after a two year campaign in which 9 unionists were suspended. The Subic Bay EPZ was declared
“union-free.” 35,000 workers (75% young
women) in Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and German factories of the Cavite EPZ,
face dismissed if they marry. Workers
joining unions are fired, have forced overtime or poor conditions. There were widespread violations of workers’
rights in Bataan EPZ, and no unions in the Baguio or Mactan EPZs. Workers are monitored and cannot meet in
groups.
Non-nationals
cannot form or join unions unless reciprocal agreements exist with their
country of origin. Illegal strikers can
be imprisoned for three years. Public
sector bargaining rights are restricted and strikes banned.
Labour disputes
Port workers unionised in 3 firms and
Trans-Asia (TA) in Cebu, but firms dismissed and transferred unionists and
delayed supporters’ wages. The
anti-union Coalition of Ship Owners demanded a strike moratorium and nullification
of unions. Two TA unions had a strike
when their presidents were transferred and 21 unionists sacked. In September, armed men on management orders
attacked unionists. Serious injuries
included bullet wounds. Estrada
intervened for the shipowners. The NLRC
suspended 21 unionists.
In
September, management thugs and police attacked picketing unionists at Sharp
Philippines Electronics Workers Unions (SPEWU). A similar attack using water cannons and steel pipes injured
scores. Women were sexually molested,
as police watched. The strike began
when 57 unionists were sacked for protesting inside the company because
management refused to fulfil agreements.
Source: Annual Survey of Violations of Trade
Union Rights (2000), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
-----------------------------------
Child Labour Violations
* About
5 million children work in highly hazardous conditions, some for 16 hours a
day. (Lara Bradley, Belfast News Letter, April 18, 2000)
Where Children Work
* Garment
industries, furniture making, gold mining, food processing, footwear, plastics,
domestic service and fishing. In agriculture, children work long hours and are
exposed to toxic pesticides and other harmful chemicals. (EI Barometer, 1998)
* At
docks and ports (U.S. Dept. of State, 1998); producing fire crackers (U.S.
Dept. of Labor, Efforts to Eliminate Child Labour, 1998); small mines (ILO,
Small-Scale Mines, 1999) and rubber production. (Child Workers in Asia,
Oct.-Dec. 1997)
Prostitution and Trafficking
* Filippinas
are lured to N. Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. Many are forced into slave labour and prostitution. (AP Online,
Mar.31, 1998)
* About
600 very young Filipinas are prostituted around U.S. military bases in Korea.
About 150,000 Filipinas are exploited in Japan. (CATW-Asia Pacific.)
* There
are 60,000-600,000 child prostitutes in the Philippines. (June Kane, Sold for
Sex, 1998)
Source: <http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/philippines.html>
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Canadian Government Promotes EPZs
A Government of Canada website, directs
businesses to the Subic Bay Export Processing Zone.
Source: <http://exportsource.gc.ca/>
Another Canadian government document says:
“Incentives for investors in these zones include tax-and-duty-free importation
of inputs, income tax holidays, a special 5% gross income tax in lieu of
regular taxes and exemption from many other fees.”
Source: “Philippines Investment Brief,” Feb.
15, 2000. DFAIT.
-----------------------------------
TAKE ACTION!
MiningWatch Canada (MWC)
MWC is campaigning to support the Subanen
indigenous people of Mindanao, Philippines, who are asserting their ancestral
land rights in the face of aggressive mining exploration activities by
Calgary-based TVI Pacific Ltd. The
local Catholic Church has reported assaults on Subanens by an armed security
force hired by TVI.
MWC
is a pan-Canadian initiative supported by environmental, labour, Aboriginal and
social justice groups. It responds to
threats to public health, water and air quality and wildlife habitat by
irresponsible mineral policies and practices across Canada and around the
world.
Contact: MWC, 508-880 Wellington St., Ottawa
ON K1R 6K7. Tel.: (613) 569-3439;
Email: <mailto:canada@miningwatch.ca>
Web: <http://www.miningwatch.ca/>
---
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia
Pacific
Campaign opposes the “Visiting Forces
Agreement Between the U.S and the Philippines” which gives the U.S. Navy access
to 22 cities and towns in the Philippines for “R&R,” a euphemism for
prostitution and sex businesses.
Contact:
CATW-AP, Suite 406 Victoria Condominium, 41 Annapolis St., Greenhills,
San Juan 1502, Manila, Philippines. Web: <http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/catw/sofaagr.htm>