{"id":244477,"date":"2020-02-09T04:51:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T09:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=244477"},"modified":"2020-02-09T04:51:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T09:51:54","slug":"prrd-set-to-issue-formal-order-for-vfa-termination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/02\/09\/prrd-set-to-issue-formal-order-for-vfa-termination\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD set to issue formal order for VFA termination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City on January 13, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte will most likely make an official directive on Monday about the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States (US), Malaca\u00f1ang said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The President would send a formal written order to Executive Secretary (ES) Salvador Medialdea, directing the latter to instruct Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to send a formal notice to the US about the Philippines\u2019 decision to abrogate the VFA, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKailangan mo syempre, meron<\/em>\u00a0executive document or whether in writing\u00a0yung<\/em>\u00a0instruction\u00a0sa isang opisyal mo. Hindi naman pwedeng<\/em>\u00a0verbal verbal\u00a0lang (<\/em>Of course, you need an executive document or a written order to relay your instruction to your official. Verbal order cannot be accepted),\u201d he said in an interview with dzIQ.<\/p>\n

\u201cHintayin natin dumating ang<\/em>\u00a0Monday\u00a0bukas pagdating ni Presidente. Siyempre, kailangan mo nang may magta<\/em>-type\u00a0nun. May magdadala sa opisina ni<\/em>\u00a0ES (Let\u2019s wait Monday when the President returns in Manila. Of course, someone is needed to type the written order and transmit it to the office of ES),\u201d Panelo added.<\/p>\n

His statement came after his recent announcement has sown confusion over the President\u2019s latest directive.<\/p>\n

Panelo first announced on Friday that Duterte, through Medialdea, has directed Locsin to transmit Manila\u2019s formal notification to Washington about the revocation of the VFA, which was signed by the two countries on Feb. 10, 1998.<\/p>\n

However, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Saturday downplayed Panelo\u2019s announcement as \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Palace official maintained that the President is already determined to scrap the VFA.<\/p>\n

He added that Duterte changing his mind about the termination of VFA lies in the \u201crealm of speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIlang beses ko bang sasabihin sa inyo na desidido siya (How many times do I have to tell you that he is already decided)?\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

The VFA gives US troops the privilege to be exempted from passport and visa regulations, and use their permits and licenses in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Under the VFA, the US also keeps its jurisdiction over American military personnel who committed crimes in the Philippines, unless the offenses are punishable in the host country.<\/p>\n

Duterte was forced to rescind the VFA, after the US cancelled the visa of his staunch ally, former Philippine National Police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa.<\/p>\n

The VFA will be deemed terminated 180 days after the Philippines sends a formal notice to the US.<\/p>\n

No phone call with Trump yet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo also announced on Friday that the President is set to have a phone call with US President Donald Trump \u201canytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his latest remarks, the Palace official said Duterte has yet to talk with Trump.<\/p>\n

He also clarified that the impending phone conversation between the two leaders was not initiated by Duterte.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Yung pag-uusap nila, ano lang \u2018yun<\/em>, expected\u00a0pero walang klaro kung mag-uusap sila o hindi. Parang nagparinig lang siguro na gustong kausapin siya. Wala pa<\/em>\u00a0(Their phone conversation is expected but it is not clear whether it will push through or not. There was an indication that Trump wants to talk to Duterte. But it has yet to happen),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely\u00a0hindi si Presidente ang nag<\/em>-initiate\u00a0nun. Hindi ko alam kung si<\/em>\u00a0President Trump.\u00a0Pwedeng \u2018yung mga<\/em>\u00a0top alter egos\u00a0niya. Tandaan mo yung magre-<\/em>react\u00a0ang kabila kasi tayo ang maga-<\/em>abrogate\u00a0eh<\/em>\u00a0(Definitely, it\u2019s not the President who initiated it. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s President Trump or his top alter egos. Remember, they\u2019re reacting because we\u2019re abrogating VFA),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Senate review \u2018not useless\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the President\u2019s decision to terminate the 22-year-old VFA, the Senate insisted to proceed with the review of the agreement.<\/p>\n

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chair of the Senate foreign relations panel, on Saturday said majority of senators sought the review of the VFA.<\/p>\n

Panelo said there was nothing wrong with the Senate\u2019s move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not prohibited from reviewing any treaty or executive agreement para makapagbigay sila ng rekomendasyon (so they can give a recommendation) as a body,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the senators\u2019 review was \u201cnot useless,\u201d since their possible findings could prove that the President made the right decision.<\/p>\n

If the findings say otherwise, the Chief Executive will not hesitate to conduct a study, Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President will also study\u00a0kung tama yung kanilang punto de vista<\/em>\u00a0(if they personal judgment is right),\u201d Panelo, also Chief Presidential Legal Adviser, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— President Rodrigo Duterte will most likely make an official directive on Monday about the termination of the Visiting Forces …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":242162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244478,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244477\/revisions\/244478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}