Philippines begins process of terminating VFA with US –Palace

The Philippines has started the process of terminating its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, Malacañang said Friday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. informed him about the development, a day after the President threatened to terminate the VFA should the US not restore the visa of his close ally Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.

“The process of terminating the same has started,” Panelo told reporters. “Basta yun ang sabi ni Presidente. 'Start the process.'”

Locsin tweeted on Friday that he and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana were involved the process “by first contacting the Senate because it is a treaty on our side [and] an executive agreement on the US side.”

Locsin and Lorenzana sit as chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, of the Presidential Commission on Visiting Forces.

Ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1999, the VFA is deemed terminated upon a party's written notice of its intention to end the agreement, which becomes effective after 180 days from such notification.

Locsin said there is no need for Senate concurrence to end the VFA, in the same way that the President unilaterally pulled the Philippines out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, after the tribunal announced a preliminary examination of alleged human rights violations in Duterte’s war on drugs.

“No need for any Senate participation but, I out of courtesy, choose to inform it nonetheless,” he said.

Meanwhile, Panelo said US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim had sought a meeting with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea either on Friday or Saturday to discuss the matter.

Duterte had also threatened to repeal the VFA in 2016 after the US Millennium Challenge Corporation deferred a vote on continuing its assistance to the Philippines supposedly due to concerns over alleged human rights violations in the country under the Duterte administration.

While the US Embassy in Manila did not reveal the reason for the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s visa, the latter believes it is connected with the extrajudicial killings while he is implementing the government’s war on drugs while being the Philippine National Police chief.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III expressed belief that with Duterte’s statement, the US government will now rethink its actions against the Philippines.

But for Senator Panfilo Lacson, the President’s threat is unfortunate and unnecessary as there is no connection between Dela Rosa’s visa and the VFA, which governs the conduct, exit and entry movements of American troops visiting the Philippines for military exercises.

The Philippines and the US are treaty allies, having signed the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that obliges American troops to help defend the Philippines if it comes under attack.

The US and the Philippines also inked the VFA and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which allows greater US troops’ access to Philippine bases and presence in the country.  —LBG, GMA News