WHEN Malacañang announced that President Rodrigo Duterte has fully restored the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the most important accord governing the continued presence of US troops in the Philippines, many were surprised and happy. There were those who were perplexed and sad, though.
Duterte’s unlikely retraction came hours after he met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III in the Palace. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque provided the official spiel on what transpired during that meeting, but for sure the reality has more to it than this official statement.
‘Military and political analysts
say that for the US, having
the ability to rotate its troops
is important not only for the
defense in case it is needed.’
“President Duterte’s decision to recall the abrogation of VFA is based on upholding the Philippines’ strategic core interests, the clear definition of PH-US alliance as one between sovereign equals, and clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT),” Roque announced.
The speed by which Duterte made the crucial decision leads us to wonder what other points of agreements were reached during that meeting. The meeting was described as “open and frank,” with both officials saying the objective was to strengthen security bilateral cooperation.
The two also agreed to forge closer Philippine-American cooperation on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, illegal drugs and other transnational crimes, among others.
This development augurs well for the US which is currently ramping up its defense capability, especially in the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Duterte’s withdrawal of the VFA abrogation directive “provides certainty for us going forward, we can do long-range planning and do different types of exercises,” as Austin remarked, rather happily.
Military and political analysts say that for the US, having the ability to rotate its troops is important not only for the defense in case it is needed. Such military leeway is most important at this time when the US is obsessed with countering China’s assertive behavior in the Asian region.
For us, however, we see the President as simply exercising his role as the architect of Philippine foreign affairs, and pushing to the hilt his avowed direction laid down during the first days of his presidency: an independent foreign policy.
