Malacañang: Duterte won’t entertain US initiative to save VFA
MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte will not entertain any move by the United States government to salvage the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Malacañang issued the statement Tuesday after the Department of Foreign Affairs, upon Duterte’s order, officially sent the notice to terminate the VFA to the US government.
“The President will not entertain any initiative coming from the US government to salvage the VFA, neither will he accept any official invitation to visit the United States,” Duterte’s spokesman and legal counsel Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
The Palace official said the government’s move was anchored on Duterte’s “independent foreign policy.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., in a tweet, confirmed that the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy has received the notice of termination.
Signed in 1999, the VFA accorded legal status to US troops who were rotated in the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance operations.
In a statement, the US embassy in Manila said the President’s directive was a “serious step with significant implications for the US-Philippines alliance.”
“We will carefully consider how best to move forward to advance our shared interest,” the US embassy said.
According to Panelo, Duterte’s decision 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 our country can not forever rely on other countries for the defense of the state and should instead strengthen our own resources for our defenses,” he added.
The firebrand leader has publicly expressed dismay over the US government over some of its officials’ remarks against his bloody war on drugs.
The current discord was set in motion when the US Senate passed a resolution seeking sanctions against Philippine officials involved in the drug war and the detention of Senator Leila De Lima, a staunch Duterte administration critic who has been detained for drug-related charges.
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