PRESIDENT Duterte suspended anew the abrogation of the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin yesterday said
It was the third time since last year that Duterte has suspended his decision to scrap the VFA which was signed in 1998 to govern the conduct of US military troops while in the Philippines during training exercises and maneuvers with their Filipino counterparts.
The first suspension was in June 2020 and the second time in November 2020.
“The President conveyed to us his decision to extend the suspension of the abrogation of the VFA by another six months while he studies and both sides further address his concerns regarding particular aspects of the agreement,” Locsin said in a video message posted Monday night by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Locsin made the announcement after he emerged from a meeting with Duterte and Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez where the issue was discussed.
Earlier, Romualdez said Washington is counting on its decades-old ties with Manila for the extension of the VFA.
Manila, which has a Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington since 1951, has relied mostly on the latter for equipment for its ill-equipped military which is facing the twin threats of communist insurgency and secessionist rebels in the south, and an aggressive China in the West Philippine Sea.
In the dying days of the Trump presidency, the military received reconnaissance drones, anti-tank missiles, precision-guided munition, sniper rifles and a host of other equipment.
But Duterte has made known his disdain of the US, even threatening to end the VFA last year after Washington canceled the visa of his close ally, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, his former PNP chief.
Duterte previously said he would terminate the agreement unless the US pays up.
Last February, he said he remains undecided on what to do with the VFA, adding he will get the opinion of the Filipinos first before taking any action.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier has said the military supported keeping the VFA intact.
