De Lima slams Duterte’s flip-flop on VFA

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Leila De Lima welcomed the suspension of the revocation of the Visiting Forces Agreement but she took a swipe at President Rodrigo Duterte for being odd in his decision-making that has huge repercussions for the country.

In a statement sent through Camp Crame, De Lima said that Duterte was selfish in deciding to revoke the VFA on February 11 after close friend Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa had his United States visa canceled.

“The suspension of the revocation of the VFA, while certainly a welcome move, only proves the whimsicality and arbitrariness of the unilateral presidential action of VFA abrogation,” said De Lima in the statement.

Duterte also withdrew the Philippines’ membership in the International Criminal Court after the body launched an examination towards the alleged illegal killings in the government’s drug war that opposition senators claimed to have taken the lives of around 20,000 people.

“As in the previous withdrawal from the Rome Statute/International Criminal Court, public or national interest was never factored in,” said De Lima in the scathing letter. “Only the selfish, personal, and capricious interests of an impulsive and unstable president.”

The Philippine Senate ratified the VFA in 1999 and that governs the conduct of US troops to take part in military exercises in the Philippines.