{"id":244594,"date":"2020-02-11T19:35:02","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T00:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=244594"},"modified":"2025-01-17T20:04:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T01:04:50","slug":"malacanang-expects-warmer-ph-us-ties-despite-vfa-termination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/02\/11\/malacanang-expects-warmer-ph-us-ties-despite-vfa-termination\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaca\u00f1ang expects warmer PH-US ties despite VFA termination"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Flags are placed on grave markers to honor Filipino and American Sailors who lost their lives in World War II, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila. (U.S. Navy photo<\/a> by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Andre T. Richard via U.S. Pacific Fleet\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday expressed optimism that the Philippines will have \u201cwarmer\u201d bilateral relations with the United States despite President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s move to terminate the 22-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two nations.<\/p>\n

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said he is expecting the US to give the Philippines, its long-time ally, \u201cpreferential attention\u201d following the sending of formal notice of termination of VFA to Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains warm. Hopefully, it could be warmer,\u201d Panelo said when asked to describe the Philippines\u2019 ties with the US after the President\u2019s revocation of the VFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy? Because I\u2019ve been noticing that those who have been critical of US government policies have been given the preferential attention of the US government.\u00a0\u2018Pag nababanatan sila, sinusuyo nila. \u2018Yung mga kakampi nila, inaapi nila. Parang ganoon ang dating<\/em>\u00a0(They are appeasing their critics. On the other hand, they have been maltreating their allies. That\u2019s how it goes),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo\u2019s remarks came the same day when Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr.<\/p>\n

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announced that the US has already received the notice of termination of the Manila\u2019s VFA with Washington.<\/p>\n

It was on Friday night when Panelo first announced the President\u2019s instruction for Locsin to send the formal notification of revocation of VFA to the US.<\/p>\n

The VFA, signed by the Philippines and the US in February 1998, exempts American forces from passport and visa regulations and allows them to use their permits and licenses in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

The agreement also gives the US the jurisdiction over the US troops who committed unlawful acts in the Philippines, unless the crimes can be punished in the host country.<\/p>\n

PRRD\u2019s signature not needed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the President\u2019s latest order, Locsin signed the notice of termination of VFA.<\/p>\n

Panelo said there was no need for the President to sign the termination notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi na kailangan<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s no longer necessary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The VFA is terminated 180 days after the US receives the notice of termination from the Philippines.<\/p>\n

PRRD \u2018offended\u2019 by US\u2019 interference<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duterte scrapped the VFA due to the passage of US 2020 budget which includes a provision imposing travel ban on Philippine officials linked to Senator Leila de Lima\u2019s arrest; US Senate\u2019s demand to release de Lima and passage of a resolution condemning Duterte\u2019s drug war; and US Immigration\u2019s cancellation of Senator Ronald dela Rosa\u2019s visa, Panelo earlier said.<\/p>\n

Panelo, during the press briefing, said the intrusion of US executive and legislative branches in the Philippines\u2019 domestic issues \u201coffended\u201d the President, compelling him to take a drastic move against Washington by terminating the VFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the voice of the US government speaking to us through an equal branch of the three branches government of the US,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalaging si Presidente, sinasabi niya<\/em>, (The President is always saying), if we have to deal with other countries, we have to deal with equality and fairness.\u00a0Hindi pwedeng<\/em>\u00a0one-sided.\u00a0Iyan ang palaging sinasabi ni Presidente<\/em>\u00a0(It should not be one-sided. That\u2019s what he\u2019s always saying),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Open to VFA with other countries<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the termination of VFA with the US, Panelo raised the possibility that the Philippines might enter a similar deal with other countries, as long as the future agreements would be based on \u201cfairness\u201d and would yield \u201cmutual benefits to both agreeing nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that to date, the United Kingdom has expressed openness to forge a military pact with the Philippines.<\/p>\n

But for now, the President is focused on strengthening the country\u2019s own defense capabilities, Panelo maintained.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President said it\u2019s about time we rely on our own resources, we have to strengthen our own capability as a country relative to the defense of our land.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Yun ang pinaka ano ni Presidente. Mahirap yung relying lalo tayong humihina<\/em>\u00a0(That\u2019s the President\u2019s main concern. Because the more we rely on other countries, we\u2019re weakening our capability),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the way he talks,\u00a0tayo na lang muna. Huwag na muna tayong umasa sa ibang bansa<\/em>\u00a0(let\u2019s do it on our own. We will not rely on other countries in the meantime). But of course, if the agreement would benefit us, I\u2019m sure we will be open,\u201d Panelo added.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday expressed optimism that the Philippines will have \u201cwarmer\u201d bilateral relations with the United States despite President …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":244595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244594","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\/244594","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=244594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285030,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244594\/revisions\/285030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}