United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said that President Duterte’s decision to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement between Manila and Washington is a “move in the wrong direction.”
Esper has confirmed that the Philippine government has notified them about termination of the military pact.
“We have to digest it. We have to work through the policy angles, the military angles. I’m going to hear from my commanders. But you know, in my view, it’s unfortunate that they would make this move,” Esper said.
“I do think it would be a move in the wrong direction as – as we both bilaterally with the Philippines and collectively with a number of other partners and allies in the region are trying to say to the Chinese, ‘You must obey the international rules of order. You must obey, you know, abide by international norms.'”
“As we try and, you know, bolster our presence and compete with them in this era of great power competition, I think it’s a move in the wrong direction – for again, for the longstanding relationship we’ve had with the Philippines for their strategic location, the ties between our peoples’ our countries,” he added.
The full transcript of his remarks was posted on the official website of the US Department of Defense.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Felimon Santos said yesterday the Philippines can manage and “will live” despite losing the benefits it gets from the United States government with the termination of the VFA.
“We will support the President’s decision, his political decision. We will live without the VFA, we have lived before noong nawala ‘yung bases agreement. We have not received something, wala namang nangyari sa atin,” Santos said, referring to the scrapped PH-US Military Bases Agreement in 1991. (Martin Sadongdong)
