Bato dela Rosa: US Embassy called to restore my cancelled visa

Pro-administration Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Wednesday said the US embassy called and informed him that his cancelled visa may be fixed.

"To be honest with you, tinawagan ako ng US after nag-usap si President [Rodrigo] Duterte at President [Donald] Trump, tinawagan ako ng US Embassy na asikasuhin itong visa ko," Dela Rosa said in an interview on ANC, without mentioning the exact date the call was made.

"Pag after COVID daw, pag mag-report na ang kanilang mga staff, iniimbitahan ako papuntahin doon para asikasuhin ang aking visa," he added.

Dela Rosa said he will appear before the US embassy to process the restoration of his cancelled US visa once the health situation stabilizes.

The senator, a close ally of Duterte, bared the said development a month after the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended.

Pressed if he thinks the move to restore his visa prodded the Philippine government not to terminate the military accord with the US, Dela Rosa said he doesn't know.

"To be frank, my take from that is after sila nag-usap, yung dalawang Presidente—ng US at Pilipinas—nagkaintindihan sila. Maybe nagbigay ng instruction 'yung President ng Amerika na ayusin niyo ang visa ni Bato kaya tumawag sa akin ang US embassy na ayusin daw nila," he said.

"Wala naman ako doon noong nag-usap sila pero hindi ko lang alam," he added.

Duterte's decision to terminate the military accord in February came on the heels of Dela Rosa's US visa cancellation. The senator is a former chief of the Philippine National Police during the pilot years of the administration's drug war.

Earlier reports said the senator’s visa was canceled because of his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. Dela Rosa, for his part, said the US government could have been misinformed or misled by its informants.—AOL, GMA News