Pacquiao to strengthen VFA, MDT with US if elected president

Presidential candidate and Senator Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday said he would strengthen the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States if elected in the 2022 elections.

In an interview with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Pacquiao said he would only ask help from allied countries if the lives of the Filipinos are at stake.

“Papalakasin pa po natin lalo (We will further strengthen the VFA and MDT),” he said, noting that the country should be protected from abuse and being aggrieved when it comes to territorial disputes like in the West Philippine Sea.

“Kailangan nating ipaglaban at gawin ang nararapat gawin. Ihanda ang ating mga kababayan para protektahan at hindi maabuso, hindi po tayo maagrabyado dito sa usapin ng territorial dispute,” he said.

(We have to fight and do what we have to do. Let’s prepare protection for our people from abuse and not let them be aggrieved.)

The VFA, which took effect in 1999, allows US troops to train and advise the Philippine military in disaster response and its fight against terrorists.

Meanwhile, the MDT, signed by the Philippines and the US in 1951, states that the two countries would help each other when an armed attack is launched against either of them in the Pacific Area.

In July 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered for the retraction of the termination of the VFA after sending a termination notice to the US in February 2021. — RSJ, GMA News