ISIS less likely to attack Philippines without VFA with US, says expert

ISIS would less likely be interested in targeting the Philippines once its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States gets junked, security analyst and international relations expert Professor Rommel Banlaoi said on Wednesday.

"It will lessen the interest of ISIS to target us because they [US troops] are no longer here," Banlaoi said at a forum held in Quezon City on Wednesday.

"The American presence, it attracts ISIS because the friend of the [US] will be the target of ISIS. ISIS is here because of the United States. They are anti-American," he added.

Under the VFA, US military personnel coming into the Philippines to participate in joint exercises will be exempted from passport and visa regulations upon arrival and departure.

It also exempts from taxes and other fees all vehicles, vessels, and aircraft of the US armed forces, as well as materials, supplies, and other US properties, to be brought in the Philippines.

The pact also provides for the judicial process should a crime be committed by a US personnel in the country.

On Tuesday, the Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, delivered the notice of termination of the country’s VFA with the US following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The termination of the bilateral accord, however, will not cause existing affiliates of ISIS in the Philippines to immediately dismantle and relent in its terrorist plots.

"They will not leave. They will stay here and that's why we're talking with our neighbors in Southeast Asia to join and defeat the problem," Banlaoi said.

Banlaoi stressed that the Philippines must forge stronger ties with its Southeast Asian neighbors to address not only terrorism but other common threats such as climate change, transnational crimes, and outbreak of diseases. —NB, GMA News