Termination date for VFA moved to November 2020
THE prominent Yellowtard and Amboy in the administration of President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin Jr., had better stop wearing a slip. It keeps showing every time he opens his mouth.
With nary an effort to conceal his alacrity, Tweeterboy announced in a less- than- threeminute press conference, thus:
“We are pleased to announce, in light of recent developments, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte instructed me to inform, via diplomatic note, the ambassador of the United States that he has decided to suspend the pending termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which has several months more to run.” Pleased?!
To recall, Tweeterboy told a Senate committee hearing that he wanted a “vigorous review” of the VFA, in open defiance of President Duterte’s earlier decision to terminate the agreement.
“We look forward to continuing our strong military partnership with the United States, even as we continue to reach out to our regional allies in building a common defense towards enduring stability and peace and continuing economic progress and prosperity in our part of the world,” he added.
What was the fellow talking about? What the President decided was to merely change the notice of the VFA termination period from the original March to August 2020 to June to November 2020, with a possible extension of another six months.
Oh, I get it. He is hoping the President would eventually change his mind about abrogating the agreement.
That’s his wish. He will be traumatically disappointed!
In fact, Palace spokesman Harry Roque had already confirmed that only the termination date of the agreement has been changed.
“When it comes to the VFA, what was suspended was the process of termination. The President has no new decision when it comes to the termination,” he said.
Digong a lot smarter than Locsin
Locsin said the government was looking forward to continuing the country’s strong military partnership with the US.
Did Digong tell him that? I doubt it. The President is a lot smarter than Locsin gives him credit for.
He also cited Digong’s campaign slogan during the 2016 presidential elections to explain the President’s decision to delay the abrogation of the VFA.
“I will answer only one question, which I will ask myself: why did he change his mind? A man who does not change his mind cannot change anything. He ran on the slogan ‘change is coming,’” Locsin said.
To begin with, what he said about “a man who does not change his mind cannot change anything” is awfully fallacious. To me, a man who changes his mind about something as important as the issue at hand means he did not think carefully about his decision, thus making him indecisive in the process, a quality that nobody wants of a leader.
Locsin also erroneously interpreted, deliberately I suspect, Digong’s presidential campaign slogan, “Change is coming.”
What Digong meant by that slogan was change was coming in the way the country was being governed and the foreign policy that was being followed by previous administrations, i.e., dependence on the US and the presence of its troops and military bases on our soil.
“I hate it. We do not need it,” is what Digong said about such presence. He also realizes such a policy is against the constitutional provision on the pursuit of an independent foreign policy
Out with the Amboys
“I issued this diplomatic note to the US ambassador. It has been received by Washington and well at that. The note is self-explanatory and does not require comment except from me. The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the President’s instruction,” Locsin said. “It has been received by Washington and well at that.”
Did he have to preempt Washington or its embassy here on how Digong’s decision was received?
The fellow is so full of himself that he even said, “The note is selfexplanatory and does not require comment except from me.”
Pray tell, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose “Amboy” Romualdez and Palace spokesman Roque, not to mention the various senators and congressmen, were exceptions?
Speaking of Lorenzana, he said with the deferment of the abrogation of the VFA, the US might increase its assistance to the Philippines to fight the coronavirus crisis.
Was that the quid pro quo for the deferment? If so, that smacks of a mendicant mentality, borne out of our lingering colonial mentality vis-à-vis the US, which Digong is striving so hard to get rid of.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Lorenzana said the Department of National Defense supported and was satisfied with the decision, considering that he was not entirely in favor of terminating the VFA in the first place. Huh?! He must be an Amboy after all.
He also reportedly told CNN that he was supporting the President’s latest decision “because of our longstanding relationship with the US,” adding that “to end the decades- long relationship with the US military will be very abrupt and you know we learned a lot from them and they learned enough from us.”
I believe it is really time Digong booted out the Amboys in his administration.
Gen. Antonio Sotelo (retd.)
Personally, I choose not to speculate or second- guess the real reason/ reasons for President Digong’s decision at this time. I have no idea what they are. I would rather wait before the end of the revised termination period for the VFA in November.
Meanwhile, Gen. Antonio Sotelo (retd.), former commanding general of the Philippine Air Force, has the following to say in his letter to former chief justice Artemio Panganiban regarding the latter’s column in the June 7 issue of the
“Firstly, I am not at all surprised that the President stopped for six months the countdown. I think that this is a strategic move: one step back and two steps forward. I think he has shown goodwill to America by stopping the count at this time that America is in distress. After six months, the countdown will continue and at the end of it, he expects some goodwill from America , too, by accepting the count without rancor.
“Secondly, from reading your article today ( https:// opinion. inquirer. net/130548/vfa-mdtnotenforceable- inusph), I take it to mean that we have been quarreling all along about nothing.
“Now I can say that if America leaves, the tension in our part of the world will at least go to a simmering level, not at an exploding level. I say this because America is an intruder in Asia. It came here to attain hegemony. But like all gunfighters, when he is ready to challenge the top gun, he does it.
“If America leaves, I think we can get results of the 60-40 arrangement and our President can talk with Xi [Jinping of China] about the code of conduct. This time Xi would not be talking with the host of their No. 1 enemy, whose weaponry is poised against them. This, to me, are all part of the strategy to stop the count now and get results later.”
From an internet friend: Two married friends are out drinking one night, when one turns to the other and says, “You know I don’t know what else to do. Whenever I go home after we’ve been out drinking, I turn the headlights off before I get to the driveway. I shut off the engine and coast into the garage. Take my shoes off before I go into the house. I sneak up to the stairs, get undressed in the bathroom, stick my foot in the toilet and pee down my leg to prevent splashing sounds. I ease into bed and my wife wakes up and yells at me for staying out so late.”
His friend looks at him and says, “Well, you’re obviously taking the wrong approach. I screech into the driveway, slam the door, storm up the steps, pee hard into the toilet water, then use the full flush, throw my shoes in the closet, undress in the bedroom, then jump into bed, slap her on the butt and say, ‘Who’s horny?!’ She always acts like she’s sound asleep. Works every time!”