President Duterte warned the United States that he will proceed with the abrogation of their Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) if it fails to produce 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the Philippines.
Duterte made the statement as he met with the government's pandemic task force and other health experts on Saturday, Dec. 26, to discuss the new COVID-19 strain from the United Kingdom called B.1.1.7.
During the meeting, President Duterte asked the public not to believe in reports that the US initially committed to giving the Philippines 10 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech by January 2021, saying the US cannot even distribute them in their country.
He, instead, put the US government on notice that if they fail to provide the Philippines with COVID-19 vaccines, they can say goodbye to the idea of staying in the country.
"Iyong Visiting Forces Agreement, matatapos na. Ngayon kapag hindi ako pumayag aalis talaga sila (The VFA is about to end. Now if I don't agree with the terms, they will have to get out)," he said Saturday evening.
"Kung hindi sila maka-deliver, maski na a (Now, if they fail to deliver even just a) minimum of 20 million vaccines, they better get out. No vaccine, no stay here," he added.
"They are put on notice that if they cannot produce the vaccine, 20 million at least, immediately ," he continued.
The VFA, signed in 1998 and ratified the following year, allows joint trainings between American and Filipino soldiers in the Philippines and governs the conduct of US troops while they are in the country.
In February this year, President Duterte ordered the termination of the VFA after the US revoked the visa of his close ally Senator Ronald Dela Rosa and after the ban on the entry of officials supposedly behind the arrest and detention of Senator Leila de Lima.
In June, President Duterte suspended the termination of the VFA due to "political and other developments in the region." Last month, the government suspended the abrogation anew but negotiations continue.