Arab News

Philippine­s begins terminatio­n of US deal

The move comes after Washington’s refusal to issue a visa to ally of President Duterte

- Ellie Aben Manila

The Philippine­s has started the process of terminatin­g the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which allows the deployment of US forces to the country to conduct military exercises, presidenti­al spokespers­on Salvador Panelo announced on Friday.

The move comes one day after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to do away with the agreement if the US did not reinstate the visa of his political ally and former police chief, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa. Although in a speech on Thursday night the president said he would give the US one month to restore Dela Rosa’s visa before terminatin­g the VFA, Panelo told reporters the process had already begun.

“The President feels that we cannot sit down and watch idly,” he said, adding he had relayed the matter to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin.

Locsin, in a Twitter post on Friday, confirmed he had called Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana “to start the process of terminatin­g the VFA.”

Lorenzana, in a statement on

Friday evening, said that he would discuss with the president “the various scenarios concerning the possible terminatio­n of the VFA, and what future actions may be undertaken by the Department of National Defense (DND) and Armed Forces of the Philippine­s (AFP) regarding this matter.”

The defense chief said he could understand why the president was angered by the cancellati­on of Dela Rosa’s visa, over alleged extrajudic­ial killings in connection with the government’s anti-drug war.

“It is a direct affront to (the president) being the architect of the drug war upon his assumption of office,” the defense chief said. He noted that Duterte ordered Dela Rosa when he was installed as police chief in 2016 to launch the drug war, and promised to back him. “He is just being true to his promise,” Lorenzana stressed.

Dela Rosa himself said details surroundin­g the revocation of his US visa remain unclear to him. He added that it “might be related” to the anti-drug war.

The Philippine­s Department of Justice said it was studying the

“proper procedure to terminate the VFA.”

Responses from Philippine lawmakers have been mixed.

“In the absence of a Philippine­s Supreme Court ruling on the president’s power to unilateral­ly break a treaty or bilateral agreement like the VFA, without the consent of a 2/3 supermajor­ity vote of the members of the senate, the president can do that without the senate’s approval or consent,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the VFA terminatio­n would work in favor of China, and so did not come as a surprise.

According to Lorenzana: “The terminatio­n of the VFA may be unilateral­ly initiated by the Philippine­s, and it is well within the right of the government to do so if it determines that the agreement no longer redounds to our national interest.

“Such a terminatio­n does not need the approval of the Philippine Congress. All that is required is that a notice of terminatio­n be served to the US government. The terminatio­n shall take effect 180 days after the date of the notice,” the defense chief stressed.

 ?? AP ?? Earlier, Duterte said he would give the US a month to restore Dela Rosa’s visa.
AP Earlier, Duterte said he would give the US a month to restore Dela Rosa’s visa.

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