Philippines officially terminates Visiting Forces Agreement with US
THE Philippines has officially sent the US a notice to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement ( VFA). The Malacanang Presidential Palace on Tuesday confirmed that the notice has been signed by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr and sent to the US government on the same day.
Presidential spokesman Panelo told a press briefing: “The president directed Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to tell Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin of the Foreign Affairs to send the notice of termination to the US government last night.
“The Executive Secretar y sent the message to Secretar y Teddy Boy Locsin, and t he latter signed the notice of termination and then sent it to the US government today,” he said, adding t hat t he termination will ta ke ef fect af ter 180 days from now.
Locsin in a t weet said the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy has received t he notice of terminat ion.
“As a diplomatic courtesy there will be no f urt her factua l announcements follow ing t his selfexplanator y development,” t he countr y’s top diplomat said.
Since taking power in 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly alluded to severing ties with the US while pursuing closer relations with the country’s non-traditional allies Russia and China.
The firebrand leader has publicly expressed dismay over the US government over some of its officials’ remarks against his bloody war on drugs.
The current discord was set in motion when the US Senate passed a resolution seeking sanctions against Philippine officials involved in the drug war and the detention of Senator Leila De Lima, a staunch Duterte administration critic who has been detained for drug-related charges.
Duterte has ordered the termination of the military pact after the US cancelled the visa of his long-time confidant Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who also led his bloody war on drugs.
The VFA, signed in 1998, accorded legal status to US troops who were rotated in the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance operations.
Dela Rosa, who was Duterte’s chief of police from 2016 to 2018, said the US Embassy did not explain why his visa was voided but he acknowledged it has something to do with alleged extrajudicial killings under his watch.