Duterte men clash on VFA
dEFENSE secretary delfin lorenzana on saturday confirmed that no official order has been issued to formally notify the united states of the philippines’ intention to terminate the visiting forces agreement (VFA).
Malacañang, however, said President Rodrigo D”terte had ordered the sending to the US of a notice of termination of the VFA between Manila and Washington.
In a text message, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted that there was “no inconsistency” in his and Lorenzana’s statements.
“What SND (secretary of National Defense) meant is ES (Exec”tive Secretary Salvador Medialdea) [is] yet to receive the instr”ction. That is what ES also told me last night that he has not received the instruction yet from [the President],” Panelo said.
“There is no inconsistency. I was q”oting [the President based on] what he told me. If he has not given the instr”ction yet to ES, it does not mean the info[rmation] I shared [with] media is ”ntr”e. It only means ES has not yet gotten the directive
from [the President],” he added.
Panelo on Friday anno”nced that D”terte had instr”cted Medialdea to tell Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to send the notice of termination to the US government. B”t Medialdea also on Sat”rday said he had not received any order from the President.
“As of date I have not received any instr”ction to relay any message to anyone,” he said in a text message.
Branding the information as fake news, Lorenzana said Locsin had not yet been ordered by the President to make s”ch move.
“This is fake news. Secretary Locsin has not been [issued] the order yet,” he told the reporters in a message.
Lorenzana said it was confirmed to him by Medialdea that there was no s”ch order.
On Friday night, Panelo bared that D”terte gave the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) the gosignal to notify the US abo”t terminating the VFA.
He said D”terte wo”ld call US President Donald Tr”mp regarding the matter.
The VFA is a bilateral pact signed in 1999 allowing US troops to train and advise the Philippine military in its fight against terrorists b”t bans American forces in combat operations.
Based on the VFA, any termination will be effective 180 days after the US received the notice of termination.
Panelo, also D”terte’s top legal co”nsel, had claimed that the process to scrap the VFA has started.
D”terte’s decision to p”ll Manila o”t of the VFA stemmed from the cancellation of the US visa of his ally Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
The US did not cite the reason for the former police chief’s visa cancellation, b”t the incident happened soon after American senators passed a resol”tion that so”ght to impose some sanctions against Philippine officials allegedly responsible for the detention of D”terte’s sta”nch critic, Sen. Leila de Lima.
Also on Sat”rday, Magdalo party-list Rep. Man”el Cabochan 3rd said the President’s order to terminate the VFA between the Philippines and the United States was an “ill-advised” and “irrational” policy decision. Cabochan ”rged the President to consider conseq”ences of the VFA termination.
“I hope that the President wo”ld realize the repercussions,” he said.
Cabochan added that the government sho”ld recognize the risks of canceling the VFA as this wo”ld impact defense and sec”rity, the economy and health and social services. Cabochan noted that the VFA termination wo”ld affect the sec”rity of the co”ntry.