MANILA, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Philippines has officially notified the United States about its termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between Manila and Washington, Philippines’s top diplomat said on Tuesday.
“The Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States has received the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement. As a diplomatic courtesy, there will be no further factual announcements following this self-explanatory development,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin tweeted.
Pres Rodrigo Duterte, who has openly disapproved of the two countries’ military alliance, made the decision after the United States rescinded the visa of one of his close allies, senator Ronald dela Rosa.
It was reported that the US rescinded dela Rosa’s visa over an issue related to the detention of a senator and top critic of Duterte.
“Trump, and the others, are trying to save the Visiting Forces Agreement. I said, I don’t want it,” Duterte said according to the official transcript of a speech in Manila on Monday night.
“It’s about time we rely on ourselves, we will strengthen our own defences and not rely on any other country,” Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo told a regular briefing, quoting the president.
The VFA, signed in 1998, accorded legal status to thousands of US troops who were rotated in the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance.
Defense ties between the Philippines and former colonial ruler the United States go back to the early 1950s and are governed by a Mutual Defence Treaty, which remains intact, along with an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement made under the Obama administration.
It is the first time Duterte has scrapped an agreement with the United States, having throughout his more than three years in office denounced Washington for hypocrisy and for treating the Philippines “like a dog on a leash.”
Despite reassurances from his generals, Duterte has long accused U.S. forces of conducting clandestine activities. In his speech on Monday, he said U.S. nuclear weapons were being stored in his country.
He has argued that the presence of U.S. forces makes the Philippines a potential target for aggression.
In a Senate hearing last week, Locsin warned that abrogating the security accord with Washington would undermine Philippine security and foster aggression in the disputed South China Sea. U.S. military presence in the strategic waterway has been seen as a crucial counterweight to China, which has claimed virtually the entire sea.
Locsin proposed a review of the agreement to fix contentious issues instead of abrogating it. Philippine defense and military officials did not immediately issue any reaction to the government move.
The termination of the 1999 agreement would take effect 180 days after Washington received Manila’s notice but both could decide to keep the pact during the waiting period, Philippine officials said. — NNN-AGENCIES