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(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) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. signed on Tuesday, Feb. 11, the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, a Foreign Affairs official said. In a Tweet, Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said the signing was “on the order of the President through Executive Secretary (Salvador) Medialdea.” He said the notice will be delivered to the US Embassy in Manila “forthwith.” Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to scrap the […]
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, Feb. 10, said his US counterpart Donald Trump and other people were trying to “save” the Visiting Forces Agreement. But Duterte, who the Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said had issued the order for a notice of termination to be issued to the US government, said in a speech before local executives in the Palace, “ayaw ko.” “One is that napaka bastos ng Amerikano. Talagang sobrang bastos,” Duterte said, as […]
(Eagle News)–Senator Bong Go said he respects the filing of a Senate resolution seeking for a review of the Visiting Forces Agreement before its planned termination. In a statement, Go said the Senate was, after all, a separate branch of government. “..At karapatan po ng bawat senador to express our views, their views. ‘Yung resolution naman po ay isang suggestion… baka magbago pa ang isip ng ating mahal na Pangulo,” Go said. Asked if he […]
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte will issue the order for Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to inform Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. about the planned termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement on Monday, Feb. 10. This is according to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, who gave a radio interview on Sunday, Feb. 9. It was Panelo who said the President had directed Medialdea to inform Locsin to send the US government the notice of termination. But Medialdea […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has given instructions for the Department of Foreign Affairs to transmit the notice of termination to the United States government, giving formal notice to end the 22-year old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), according to his spokesperson Salvador Panelo. The VFA, which was signed in February 1998, has the primary effect of allowing the US government to retain jurisdiction over U.S. military personnel acuused of committing crimes in the […]
Other military pacts between Philippines and United States to be probed (Eagle News)–The Senate foreign relations committee on Thursday, Feb. 6, kicked off its hearings on the Visiting Forces Agreement and two other military pacts between the Philippines and the United States. The hearings also on the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and to be presided over by panel chair Senator Koko Pimentel are scheduled to take place after President Rodrigo […]
(Eagle News) — Three senators have asked President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his unilateral withdrawal from the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. In urging the President in Senate Resolution No. 312, Senate President Tito Sotto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Panfilo Lacson acknowledged that while “by constitutional fiat and by the intrinsic nature of his office” the President, as head of state, is “the sole organ and authority in the external […]
(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) — Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday, Jan. 29, slammed the government’s move to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement, calling it “irrational.” “To be clear: canceling the VFA is not the best move for the Filipino people and Philippine interests. It can only be good for certain foreign interests,” De Lima said, without elaborating. She said in the first place, “decisions on matters of national interest should not be based on one man’s […]
Palace wants impact assessment of termination of VFA included too, Guevarra says (Eagle News)–The Palace has instructed the Department of Justice to expand its scope of study on the Visiting Forces Agreement. In a text message to reporters, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the instruction was to include a preliminary impact assessment on the possible termination of the VFA. Earlier, Guevarra said the instruction was to study how to terminate the VFA that allows US […]
(Eagle News) — Senator Panfilo Lacson believes President Rodrigo Duterte can scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement without the Senate’s approval or consent. In a statement, Lacson said this was “in the absence of a Supreme Court ruling on the President’s power to unilaterally break a treaty/bilateral agreement like the VFA without the consent of 2/3 supermajority vote of the Senate.” “Having said that, the SC should act on the pending petition filed by a number […]
