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(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte’s termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement is “epically wrong,” Senator Leila de Lima said. In a statement, De Lima said for one, the VFA, after all, “is an important cog in a whole system of defense and security arrangements with the US that includes the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)..” She said the Philippines “has benefitted for many years, particularly in the matters of joint […]
(Eagle News)–It still remains to be seen if President Rodrigo Duterte will stick to the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison said. In a statement, Sison said it would also be “laudable” if Duterte scraps all other military agreements with the United States. Sison said it was, however, “difficult or impossible to believe” that Duterte would do this. For Duterte to scrap the Enhanced Defense Cooperation […]
(Eagle News)–If US President Donald Trump were president of the Philippines, he would have also junked the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Palace said. “Given his character and principled stand on a matter of national interest, [Trump] would have done exactly the same thing he had done..,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement. According to Panelo, if President Rodrigo Duterte were also the US President, “he would have given the same reaction.” Because of […]
(Eagle News)–The timing and reasons for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement are “way off the mark,” Senator Panfilo Lacson said. In a statement, Lacson said that while “we will survive,” in the meantime, “we remain exposed to terrorist threats, both domestic and foreign, not to mention the continuing security threat in the West Philippine Sea posed by China, and even the need for timely humanitarian response and assistance that the US is capable […]
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte is not interested in seeking other military alliances with other countries. In an interview over CNN Philippines on Friday, Feb. 14, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President was instead interested in strengthening the country’s own capabilities. “Kaya nga papalakasin natin ang puwersa natin, eh di mag-uumpisa tayong bumili ng mga high-tech weapons,” he said. Panelo issued the statement after the Philippines moved to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the […]
(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 military exercises between the Philippines and the United States will proceed as planned this year despite the Philippine government’s move to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Thursday, Feb. 13. In a statement, Lorenzana said this was because the exercises would take place within the 180-day period the VFA would still be in effect even after one party has been notified of its termination. Once the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump dismissed concerns Wednesday about the Philippines canceling a major military accord, saying the decision would save Americans money. The 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) created a legal framework for the presence of US troops in the Philippines and for organizing joint military exercises. Manila announced its decision Tuesday — a move the US embassy in the Philippines called a “serious step” — touching off a six-month […]
(Eagle News) — “We will live without (the Visiting Forces Agreement).” This was the remark of Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Felimon Santos Jr., who spoke to reporters on Wednesday, Feb. 12, after the Commission on Appointment confirmed him. According to Santos, the decision to terminate the VFA, which governs the conduct of American soldiers on Philippine soil as they undertake military exercises with Philippine soldiers, was “political.” “We have lived before nung nawala […]
(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) — President Rodrigo Duterte will “not entertain” any United States initiative to save the Visiting Forces Agreement. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo added President Duterte will not accept “any official invitation to visit the United States.” Panelo said the President’s decision, after all, was a “consequence of a series of legislative and executive actions by the US government that bordered on assaulting our sovereignty and disrespecting our judicial system.” “In addition, the President believes that […]
(Eagle News) – The United States embassy has acknowledged receiving the Philippine government’s “intent to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)” describing it as having “significant implications for the US-Philippine alliance.” In a statement, the US embassy said that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had already informed them of the Philippines’ decision to terminate the VFA. “This is a serious step with significant implications for the U.S.-Philippines alliance,” its statement said. “We will […]
