Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario admitted Monday that the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and United States is imperfect, but said abrogating it at this time would interrupt the two allies’ ongoing defense cooperation.
“The VFA is an essential agreement to both the Philippines and the USA in effectively implementing the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT),” said Del Rosario. The MDT is the 69-year-old defense accord that binds America to defend its Asian ally from aggression.
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to scrap the VFA if Washington will not reinstate the visa of former police chief and now senator Ronald Dela Rosa, the main implementor of Duterte’s violent drug war that allegedly killed thousands of suspects.
Philippine officials said termination process for the VFA is ongoing.
“While the VFA is admittedly an imperfect agreement, it would interrupt the benefits of the MDT with regards to the joint training and exercises, the pursuit of modernization, achieving interoperability and providing assistance during natural calamities,” Del Rosario said.
Without the VFA, Del Rosario said making the MDT work “would be more challenging, especially since we now have specific external threats as well as more devastating natural calamities.”
Del Rosario, who served as DFA Chief from 2011 to 2016 under the Aquino administration, recalled that during the Typhoon Yolanda disaster in 2013, the quick US relief response was made possible by the VFA.
Other countries, he said, wanted to immediately respond but were constrained by the lack of legal arrangements for their troops to enter the Philippines.
“At its peak, the US military efforts included more than 13,000 military personnel, 66 aircraft and 12 naval vessels. The US delivered more than 2,500 tons of relief supplies and evacuated over 21,000 people,” he said.
Terminating the VFA, he noted, would also “serve to actualize our pivot towards China against the strong and vehement objections of our people.”
“Should our President wish to improve the MDT and the VFA, he may wish to accept the invitation to meet President Trump. This would present an excellent opportunity for our President to place on the table his full expectations pertaining to our bilateral relations,” Del Rosario said.
Amid a US law that bans foreign government officials involved in human rights violations and corruption from entering America, Duterte was among the 10 Southeast Asian leaders invited by Trump for a summit in Las Vegas in March. However, his spokesman said the President has declined the invitation and will not be attending the event.
The 1999 defense treaty allows American soldiers to participate in large-scale trainings with their Filipino counterparts in the country.
It is a framework agreement that covers the treatment and presence of American forces in the country with or without war games.
The VFA will also be utilized in the event there is a crime committed by US personnel in the country.
In scrapping the accord, the Philippines would have to inform Washington that it is abrogating the agreement.
