FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said Monday night President Duterte has told him of his decision to extend the suspension of the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) by another six months, “while he studies and both sides further address his concerns regarding particular aspects of the agreement.”
Locsin made the statement shortly after his meeting with Duterte and Ambassador to Washington, Jose Manuel Romualdez.
Locsin, in his brief statement, did not say where the meeting took place.
Marie Yvette Banson-Abalos of the DFA Strategic Communications Office, when asked about the “particular concerns” the President was referring to, said, “We are waiting for guidance from the Palace on the specific areas the President would like to look more closely into.”
Asked further whether the US Embassy has been notified of the President’s decision, she said, “The DFA has to check with our American Affairs office first on what the official reckoning date will be,” adding, “usually it is from the time the other party has been officially notified.”
Inked in 1998, the VFA is the first of two agreements between Washington and Manila about the treatment of their troops when they are in the US or the Philippines.
Duterte earlier threatened to scrap the VFA in 2019 and even went as far as demanding payment to keep the pact.
Philippine and US officials have since met to iron out differences over the deal.
The VFA was supposed to be scrapped on August 9, 2020, after Duterte earlier ordered Locsin to serve a notice of abrogation on the US Embassy, but the Philippine government on June 1, 2020, suspended its pending termination in light of “political and other developments in the region.”
The suspension was given an initial six-month timeline until December, but a diplomatic note earlier shared by Locsin said it could also be extended for another half year.
On November 11, 2020, Locsin announced that the Philippines will hold off for another six months the abrogation of the agreement upon Duterte’s order.
Locsin said the move would enable both parties to come up with a “more enhanced” and mutually beneficial arrangement on defense matters.
“My President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, has instructed me to convey with the appropriate formality his decision to extend the suspension of the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement by yet another 6 months, to enable us to find a more enhanced, mutually beneficial, mutually agreeable, and more effective and lasting arrangement on how to move forward in our mutual defense,” the country’s top diplomat wrote in a note addressed to White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.
In February this year, Duterte sought public opinion on the VFA, while admitting he has not decided on whether to continue with its abrogation or not.