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(Eagle News) — United States Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, Nov. 21, said an armed attack on “the Philippines, armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke US mutual defense commitments..” In her courtesy call on President Bongbong Marcos, Harris said this was “an unwavering commitment that we have to the Philippines” as she noted the Philippine and US alliance remained an “enduring” one. In fact, she said the […]
Austin is first Biden cabinet member to meet with Pres. Duterte (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte decided to continue the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States government, recalling his earlier decision to terminate or abrogate the VFA. Delfin Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that President Duterte decided to continue the VFA after his meeting on Thursday, July 29, with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Because of this, he said that the “VFA […]
(Eagle News)–Both the Philippines and the United States reaffirmed the “importance of working closely to enhance the Mutual Defense Treaty” in light of the “recent geopolitical developments and challenges” in the Asia in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The DFA said the reaffirmation of the treaty that “has stood strong for nearly 70 years” was made in a conversation between Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr. and U.S. Secretary […]
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte may suspend the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement for another six months. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the comment in a television interview aired on Wednesday, Nov. 4. “But anyway, what I am saying is, there is no immediate rush for the President to decide because the notification we sent to the Americans gives them at least one year leeway before it’s abrogated,” Roque said. The President ordered the suspension […]
(Eagle News) – Malacanang said that it welcomes the statement of US President Donald Trump accepting President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). Trump said that he is “fine” with the Philippines’ decision to end VFA and this would even save a lot of money for the US. “If they would like to do that, that’s fine, we’ll save a lot of money,” Trump told reporters at the White House, […]
(Eagle News) — The termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement will make two other defense agreements with the United States useless, but it doesn’t mean the Philippines can’t survive, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Guevarra noted in particular the effects of the termination of the VFA on the Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty. The VFA governs the conduct of American soldiers on Philippine soil as they undertake […]
(Eagle News) — The Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States will be rendered useless if the Visiting Forces Agreement is terminated, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday, Feb. 11. In a statement, Lacson said the MDT, which posits that the Philippines and the US would act in accordance with the Constitution should there be an armed attack on either one of them, “will now be reduced to a mere paper treaty […]
(Eagle News) — A Senate panel will start reviewing the Visiting Forces Agreement and other Philippine-US military agreements next week. Senator Koko Pimentel, chair of the foreign relations committee, said apart from the VFA, which allows US bases in the country, the Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty would be reviewed. Pimentel made the disclosure after the Department of Justice revealed it had been asked to study the process for terminating the […]
(Eagle News) — Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Wednesday, June 19, slammed Senator Panfilo Lacson’s comment the Mutual Defense Treaty could be invoked in the Recto Bank incident that saw a Chinese vessel hitting a Filipino fishing vessel and abandoning it. In a radio interview, Panelo said in the first place, there was “no act of aggression” so far. “Hindi pa natin alam kung ano bang nangyari doon, is it intentional? Assuming na intentional, ang […]
But in such a scenario, under MDT, PHL will “automatically be involved,” Lorenzana says (Eagle News) — For Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the United States is “more likely to be involved in a shooting war” in the West Philippine Sea than the Philippines because of the “increased and frequent passage of” American naval vessels. Even then, Lorenzana said on the basis of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the Philippines will “automatically be involved,” which means the […]
(Eagle News)– The Palace on Friday, March 1, said it still wants a review of the Mutual Defense Treaty. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement even after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave the assurance his country would come to the Philippines’ aid should it be attacked in the disputed West Philippine Sea, based on the treaty. According to Panelo, although the Palace was “pleased to note that the US has made a […]
(Eagle News)–Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. believes there is no need to review the Mutual Defense Treaty to ensure the United States will come to its aid should China attack the Asian country over the dispute in the South China Sea. “In vagueness lies the best deterrence,” Locsin said in a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday, March 1. “We are very […]
