Palace: PH position on VFA ‘unchanged’

The country’s position on terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States remains “unchanged,” despite Sen. Ronald dela Rosa’s revelation that the United States was fixing his canceled visa, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said. “President Duterte’s last statement to postpone the VFA termination by six months, extendable by another six months, has not changed,” Roque said. Mr. Duterte in January declared that he was terminating the treaty following the “disrespectful” action of some US senators who had canceled the visa of Dela Rosa, a Duterte ally, for his role in the President’s war against drugs as former police chief. In June, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Philippines was suspending the abrogation of the VFA “in light of political and other developments in the region.”