Duterte warns of VFA termination if US fails to provide vaccines

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday threatened to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) should the United States fail to immediately provide a minimum of 20 million coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine doses.

In a live briefing, Duterte said that if the US wanted to help it should “stop talking” and deliver the vaccines as the Philippines “needed the vaccine [and] not verbose speeches.”

“Ang kanila lang kasi kay, ‘yung Visiting Forces Agreement matatapos na. Ngayon, pag hindi ako pumayag, aalis talaga sila. Kung hindi sila maka-deliver ng maski na lang a minimum of mga 20 million vaccines, they better get out,” Duterte said.

“No vaccine, no stay here,” he added.

Duterte also warned the public not to believe that the US will immediately deliver the vaccine.

“Hindi nga niya ma-deliver sa kaniyang lugar, dito pa. Itong amerikano talaga. Maniwala kayo. I’ve been in government, dealt with them many times. That’s hwy naging cynic ako sa kanila kasi wala pa… eh, kung ibigay edi ibigay, wala naman,” he said.

Manila formally sought the VFA's termination on Feb. 11, 2020 after the US revoked the visa of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa. — DVM, GMA News