Contagion, geopolitics prompt Duterte to suspend VFA termination–locsin
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced the restoration of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and US on Tuesday, a move widely hailed by senators who said the tumult of 2020 made it imperative to hold on to longtime allies and boost cooperation in fighting common enemies, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a hastily called news conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Locsin asked and answered the one and only question fielded by himself, on why President Duterte changed his mind.
He said: “A man who does not change his mind cannot change anything. He ran on the slogan change is coming.”
Locsin went on to say: “But in the vast and swiftly changing circumstances of the world, the time of pandemic and heightened superpower tensions, a world leader must be quick in mind and fast on his feet for the safety of our nation and the peace of the world.”
“Let me assure you that this action alarms no countries in Asia and the rest of the world. On the contrary it greatly reassures everyone,” he added.
“Everyone now is free to speculate about what is clear and true on its face. But the reckless and bad intention may undo, though I doubt they have the credibility, the good that we all, women and men of peace and goodwill, seek,” the foreign affairs chief said. “Let me assure you that this action alarms no countries in Asia and the rest of the world. On the contrary it greatly reassures everyone,” Locsin said.
Welcome development
“THIS sudden policy change is a welcome development. The unhampered implementation of the VFA will serve the interest of our country, particularly with regard to the preservation of our rights over parts of the West Philippine Sea [WPS]. The abrupt abrogation of the VFA last February as initiated by the President—which was done amid the increasing aggressiveness and the bullying of China— is disadvantageous to us. What the country truly needs is a stable foreign policy that promotes our interest,” said Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on the decision to suspend the abrogation of the VFA, as conveyed in a notice sent on June 1 by the DFA to the US Embassy in Manila.
For his part, Sen. Richard J. Gordon said that, with the year 2020 being a tumultuous one throughout the world—exacerbated by the medical and health issues, as well as financial and economic concerns confronting all countries because of the pandemic, the decision to suspend temporarily the Philippines’s withdrawal from the VFA is a welcome development.
“The year already started out tempestuously—with intensified differences having sprung up in erstwhile relatively smooth international and bilateral relationships, terrorism remaining a serious problem. And now with this pandemic that we are facing, it is not a time for breaking up relations but a time for cooperation, especially long-standing friendships. We have to continue to develop our ties with the United States. We have had a long history, bumpy as it is,” Gordon said.
SC case stands
WHILE hailing the decision to suspend the VFA termination process, Drilon said it will not affect the case that six senators filed with the Supreme Court in March, asking the SC to declare that the Senate’s treaty-ratifying power also grants the authorization to give prior concurrence when the Executive wants to terminate a treaty.
That petition for declaratory relief and mandamus was sent to the SC weeks after the Executive sent the termination process to the US government. Besides Drilon, it was signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Gordon and Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
According to Drilon, “This turnaround [the Executive’s decision to suspend termination process] does not affect the case that we filed before the Supreme Court. The petition we filed is for declaratory relief and mandamus where we asked the Supreme Court to uphold the power of the Senate over treaty termination. The fact that the VFA is reinstated will not render our case moot and academic. The case stands.”
For PHL’S best interest
GORDON, however, said the decision is also indicative of President Duterte’s open-mindedness and willingness in reviewing decisions that impact the country’s national interest, adding that the temporary suspension will enable the Executive and Legislative branches of the government to arrive at a common position on the concurrence and withdrawal procedure for treaties and international agreements.
Upon President Duterte’s instruction, the DFA sent a diplomatic note dated June 1 to the US Embassy in Manila, informing them of the suspension of the abrogation of the VFA with the United States “in light of political and other developments in the region.”
Gordon pointed out that with the situation in China and the Asiapacific region likely to get more volatile, it would be to the country’s best interest to continue to develop its ties with the US, which is building another militar y base in Mageshima, part of Japan’s Osumi Islands.
“In addition to their existing bases in Japan, they are going to put a base in place where there is an old airstrip and they’re going to be running planes out of there. So they’re near the West Philippine Sea. We have to be prepared for any eventuality because of the fragile situation in that area. That is why I have been calling for strengthening our own military capabilities,” Gordon stressed, who had presided in the 90s over the transformation of Subic, America’s biggest naval base outside its mainland, into a prosperous economic zone when the extension of the US bases treaty was voted down by the Senate in 1991.
According to Gordon, the tension between the US and China is forecast to escalate further given their competing interests across the globe in areas such as trade, technology and ideology. In his latest attack on Beijing, US President Donald J. Trump accused the Chinese government of intellectualproperty theft, covering up its mishandling of the Covid-19 outbreak and abandoning its commitments to the World Trade Organization.
“The tension is further fueled by
China’s growing military prowess, combined with a dogged assertiveness over its territorial claims in the disputed waters, where the US has guaranteed freedom of navigation for decades, patrolling the seas with a view to maintaining the principle that no sovereign state shall suffer interference from another,” noted Gordon.
‘We need help against intrusions’
LACSON also weighed in and said, “The President’s change of heart is a welcome development as far as defense and economic security of the country is concerned. The Philippines needs the VFA, especially now that Chinese intrusions into our territory, particularly in the West Philippines Sea, have become commonplace.”
Lacson added: “The last thing that we should lose is the balance of power that the USA, among other allies like Australia and other Asean neighbors, can provide to suit our national interest and territorial integrity. It is a no-brainer that we can’t stand on our own and protect ourselves from harassment coming from those intrusions.”
Long-standing alliance upheld
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, for his part, supported the government’s decision to suspend the abrogation of the VFA, a move that was also welcomed by the US government through its embassy in Manila.
“The United States welcomes the Philippine government’s decision. Our long-standing alliance has benefited both countries, and we look forward to continued close security and defense cooperation with the Philippines,” the embassy said in a brief statement.
With the decision, made through an official communication with the US embassy on Monday, Lorenzana said, the defense department will continue working with the US in finding solutions to common concerns, including the Covid-19 pandemic which has affected both countries.
“The DND [Department of National Defense] and AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] will continue to consult with the Office of the Presidential Commission on Visiting Forces on issues that need to be addressed,” Lorenzana said in a news statement released through defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong.
“In times of crises and global uncertainty, it is our belief that nations are only made stronger if we work together and focus our efforts on tackling the various challenges that confront us all,” the defense chief added.
Continuing partnership LOCSIN’S opening statement made at about 11 a.m. on Wednesday at DFA’S Mabini Hall, goes, “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 we have decided to suspend the pending termination of the visiting forces agreement which has several months more to run as stipulated therein.”
He said the country looks forward to the continuing strong military partnership with the US, “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 in the world.”
Duterte has ordered the termination of the military pact after the US canceled the visa of his friend and confidant Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, who also headed the war on drugs during his stint as national police chief.
The VFA, signed in 1998, accorded legal status to rotate US troops in the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance operations.
The President’s turnaround on the VFA came in the wake of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) muscle flexing in the SCS, while the Covid-19 pandemic is raging. Although the President has embraced China in exchange for funding his multibillion-peso “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure buildup program, very few of the infrastructures have been built until now.