Duterte can scrap VFA anytime, Palace tells Lacson

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte can terminate the Philippines’ Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States (US) anytime, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

This, after Senator Panfilo Lacson said the Senate’s concurrence is needed before Duterte can abrogate the military pact between Manila and Washington DC.

In an announcement aired over state-run PTV-4, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte need not ask permission from the Senate concerning the revocation of VFA.

“Ang Presidente ay pupuwede pong bumitaw sa VFA kahit kailan po (The President can revoke the VFA anytime),” Roque said, explaining that the Supreme Court (SC) does not issue a temporary restraining order to stop Duterte’s earlier move to scrap the VFA.

On Tuesday, Lacson said senators have “something to do with international agreements” like VFA.

Citing Section 21 of Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution, Lacson said “no treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate.”

Roque countered Lacson, saying the VFA is not a treaty.

“Pagdating doon sa tratado tama po kayo, nakasaad sa saligang batas na ang mga tratado kinakailangan ng concurrence ng Senado… Now, ang VFA po ay hindi tratado (When it comes to treaty, you are right, the Constitution says treaties need Senate’s concurrence… Now, the VFA is not a treaty),” he said.

Roque clarified that VFA’s role is to implement the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) which aims to boost the defense and security cooperation between the Philippines and the US.

“Ito ay pagpapatupad lamang ng isang tratado at ang tratado na pinapatupad ng VFA ay ang Mutual Defense Treaty (It only implements the treaty and the treaty the VFA is implementing is the Mutual Defense Treaty),” he said.

The VFA is a 1998 military pact that allows US troops who will participate in joint exercises with Filipino soldiers to visit the Philippines sans visa and passport.

The Philippines, upon Duterte’s order, formally terminated the defense deal with the US on Feb. 11 last year.

In March last year, senators sought clarification from the Supreme Court about their role in the cancellation of treaties.

The VFA was supposed to be effectively scrapped in August last year, but the Philippines on June 1 the same year put the termination on hold for six months due to “political and other developments in the region.”