President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to stop the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said after the meeting of Duterte with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, who arrived in the country on Thursday.
Lorenzana said that the deal will proceed as if it didn’t face near abrogation.
“I don’t know the reason behind the President’s decision, I am not privy to the decision making. The DFA has been working for this to happen. Maybe the President was just convinced so he decided to continue with the VFA,” he added.
“There was a termination letter that was submitted by the government to US. That letter has been retracted, as if nothing happened,” Lorenzana explained.
“We thank President Duterte for fully restoring the VFA,” Austin said.
Duterte first ordered the termination of the VFA on Feb. 11, 2020. The cancellation of the US visa of Senator Bato Dela Rosa was the main trigger on the move.
The termination process was suspended last June due to the COVID-19 pandemic and issues in the West Philippine Sea.
It was later on suspended again in November.
