Sen. Panfilo Lacson and President Rodrigo Duterte (INQUIRER.net file photos)
MANILA, Philippines — “You have nothing to do with this,” President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday, addressing Sen. Panfilo Lacson on the issue of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States.
“I may accept your comments, but please use a language that will promote your person or human being,” Duterte added in his pre-recorded briefing.
He noted that Lacson had been posting about the issue on social media “without really finding out whether you are a part of it or not.”
“I am telling you, you are not. So next time consult a lawyer in your office,” Duterte added.
In a tweet last Saturday, Lacson took an swipe at the President by telling the US government that “not all” Filipinos were extortionists who demanded payment for the continuation of VFA.
He has since deleted the tweet, saying the President probably only wanted a “fair shake of the agreement” though he could have said it in a “more diplomatic way.”
The senator was reacting to the President’s earlier pronouncement that if the US would want to keep the agreement, it would have to pay because “share of responsibility does not come free.”
In Monday’s briefing, Duterte told Lacson that the Senate had no function in deals such as the VFA since only the president was empowered by the Constitution to decide on foreign relations.
“Senators have no function at all in the matter of agreements here. It is vested in the president, and it does not need any concurrence from Congress. So the power to abrogate the VFA is in me,” he said.
[atm]