Before deciding on the fate of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), President Duterte should also consult certain officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who complain of “shabby treatment” during military exercises with their United States counterparts, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Thursday.
“Important 2 (too) is sense of the military from whose chiefs Cabinet gets a sense of hostility because of shabby treatment in among other things military exercises where, officers complain, they just drool looking at-maybe handling even-but never getting to keep superior weaponry,” Locsin said in a tweet.
Locsin’s suggestion came after the President opted to seek public opinion by sending to him their thoughts on the VFA through Malacañang’s Citizens’ Complaint Center or the 8888 hotline.
To which the DFA chief agreed: “PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) is a populist so it makes sense to get a sense of the public regarding VFA. Not the sense of self-important people but common folk who, however, must at least take the trouble to call 8888 & not just answer surveys.”
“I want the narratives to come up. Not necessarily from the… pero hindi limitado dito sa Congress (not limited to Congress), ang ordinaryong mamamayan (even ordinary citizen) can have the say. There’s always the 8888 and you can enter your objections and comment that you would think would help the country,” Duterte said in a pre-recorded message, Wednesday night.
The retention of the VFA was put in limbo when Duterte ordered its abrogation in February last year, weeks after the US Embassy in Manila canceled the visa of Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. Dela Rosa was Duterte’s first chief of the Philippine National Police and believed to be one of the architects of the administration’s bloody war-on-drugs campaign.
But in November 2020, the President suspended the abrogation and extended its validity for another six months. Negotiations to “iron out” their differences on certain provisions of the military pact are moving at least on the technical level.
On February 12, 2020, Duterte demanded that the US “pay” the Philippines if they want to keep the VFA and as part of Washington’s “share of responsibility.”
Entered into force in February 1998, the VFA between the United States and the Philippines refers to the terms of reference that apply to American soldiers while temporarily stationed in the country. #