Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said yesterday he has prepared the Philippine notice to the US government that it is abrogating the 21-year-old PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement.
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, Locsin said President Duterte has ordered him to prepare the notice of termination.
Locsin told Sen. Franklin Drilon that he has not yet transmitted the notice and would only do so if there is a personal order of the President himself ‘’and no one else.’’
He said he prepared the notice of termination when he was in Washington D.C.
Based on his count, Drilon said the deadline for the transmission of notice of termination is on Feb. 22 based on a 30-day abrogation notice.
The 30-day procedural notice started last Jan. 23 when the President made the threat following a US government decision cancelling the US visa of a political ally, neophyte Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.
The Pimentel committee conducted yesterday public hearings on senators’ resolution calling for a review of PH-US treaties such as the Mutual Defense Treaty, VFA, and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement which was triggered by threats of US lawmakers to bar the entry to the US of Philippine leaders responsible for the continued detention of Sen. Leila de Lima, a Duterte archcritic.
Also taken up was Senate Resolution 312 authored by Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, Drilon, and Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson.
This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate for the President to reconsider his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the VFA with the US. (Mario Casayuran)