FILIPINO LEADER Rodrigo Duterte has vowed for the second time to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States after Washington cancelled the visa of former Philippine police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa, and forbidden his Cabinet members to go to the United States.
“I am terminating. I was not joking. The day I said it was the day that I decided it should be terminated. Alam mo sabi nila na it’s my — subject to my whim, ‘yung kapritso. No. It started when they mentioned about the resolution in the US Senate. They were trying to figure — trying to figure out who would be the persons who will be barred from entering. Noon pa lang nag — ‘yung utak ko gumagalaw na. Ganun ako eh, hindi naman ako naghihintay,” he told reporters.
“Pero at that time I have decided that if they do this… And I will do it not only for Dela Rosa, but for every Filipino. Lalo na ‘yung mga taga-gobyerno na magpunta doon supposedly to attend a business concern officially. I will limit siguro sa Foreign Affairs. But I will not allow any Cabinet member to go there at this time. No Cabinet member should be allowed to go to the United States. I will ask them to not to go to the United States in the meantime, parang boycott,” he added.
Dela Rosa was the chief architect of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs called “Oplan Tokhang,” where thousands of suspected drug pushers had been killed in police operation.
Duterte also declined President Donald Trump’s earlier invitation to join the US-ASEAN summit for a still unknown reason. But President Donald Trump signed in December the 2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill which included a provision that prohibits the entry of “foreign government officials involved in the wrongful imprisonment of Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017.”
The provision is also in line with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, allowing the US government to impose sanctions on foreign government officials implicated in human rights abuses in any part of the world.
Democrat Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy introduced the amendment which the US Senate Appropriations Committee passed in September. The two senators are among the US lawmakers who have earlier said that De Lima's detention was politically motivated, according to a report by CNN Philippines.
Former police chief and also senator, Panfilo Lacson, reacted to Duterte’s statement and said “an indefinite travel ban to the United States imposed on all members of the Cabinet could have adverse consequences on our country’s economy and security, not to mention the many employed Filipino immigrants there, especially if the US retaliates to the recent tirades of President Duterte.”
He said the Philippines is exporting at least $10 billion worth of goods annually to the US, and accounts for 52% of the total US military support and assistance to the entire Asia-Pacific region. “Considering all these, I hope some of the Cabinet members will have the courage and sensibility to speak to the President to reconsider,” he said.
“May mawawala sa atin kung nag-abrogate tayo. Kasi ang Visiting Forces Agreement may mga joint exercises na kasama riyan. Pagkaalam ko, after every joint exercises, iniiwan na nila ang equipment. This much I heard from defense officials themselves, ang AFP officers natin. And kasama sa mutual defense ito, pag may exchange of information, especially intelligence information. If you can recall, si (Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias) Marwan was pinpointed accurately (in Mamasapano in Maguindanao province on January 2015) with the use of technical intelligence extended by the Americans.”
“Hiwalay na muna natin ang naging fate ng 44 fallen SAF troopers. Ang issue rito, papaano napadali ang pag-locate kay Marwan. And there were also different instances in the past lalo sa Abu Sayyaf, lalo laban natin sa terrorism, na nakakatulong talaga ang exchange of information. Ang worrisome lang dito, kung mawala rin ang benefits na nakukuha ng PH, meron tayong loss. Kailangan natin basahin ang nilalalaman ng VFA. Sa VFA hindi siguro masyado ganoon kalaki at mahirap i-quantify, di pa natin alam ano pwede mangyari in case ma-abrogate ang treaty. Or ano magiging effect nito sa other treaties related sa VFA. Maraming unknown factors dito so hindi natin pwede agad i-quantify ano mawawala sa atin, ano mga benefits na nade-derive natin na mawawala,” Lacson said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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“I am terminating. I was not joking. The day I said it was the day that I decided it should be terminated. Alam mo sabi nila na it’s my — subject to my whim, ‘yung kapritso. No. It started when they mentioned about the resolution in the US Senate. They were trying to figure — trying to figure out who would be the persons who will be barred from entering. Noon pa lang nag — ‘yung utak ko gumagalaw na. Ganun ako eh, hindi naman ako naghihintay,” he told reporters.
“Pero at that time I have decided that if they do this… And I will do it not only for Dela Rosa, but for every Filipino. Lalo na ‘yung mga taga-gobyerno na magpunta doon supposedly to attend a business concern officially. I will limit siguro sa Foreign Affairs. But I will not allow any Cabinet member to go there at this time. No Cabinet member should be allowed to go to the United States. I will ask them to not to go to the United States in the meantime, parang boycott,” he added.
Dela Rosa was the chief architect of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs called “Oplan Tokhang,” where thousands of suspected drug pushers had been killed in police operation.
Duterte also declined President Donald Trump’s earlier invitation to join the US-ASEAN summit for a still unknown reason. But President Donald Trump signed in December the 2020 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill which included a provision that prohibits the entry of “foreign government officials involved in the wrongful imprisonment of Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017.”
The provision is also in line with the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, allowing the US government to impose sanctions on foreign government officials implicated in human rights abuses in any part of the world.
Democrat Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy introduced the amendment which the US Senate Appropriations Committee passed in September. The two senators are among the US lawmakers who have earlier said that De Lima's detention was politically motivated, according to a report by CNN Philippines.
Former police chief and also senator, Panfilo Lacson, reacted to Duterte’s statement and said “an indefinite travel ban to the United States imposed on all members of the Cabinet could have adverse consequences on our country’s economy and security, not to mention the many employed Filipino immigrants there, especially if the US retaliates to the recent tirades of President Duterte.”
He said the Philippines is exporting at least $10 billion worth of goods annually to the US, and accounts for 52% of the total US military support and assistance to the entire Asia-Pacific region. “Considering all these, I hope some of the Cabinet members will have the courage and sensibility to speak to the President to reconsider,” he said.
“May mawawala sa atin kung nag-abrogate tayo. Kasi ang Visiting Forces Agreement may mga joint exercises na kasama riyan. Pagkaalam ko, after every joint exercises, iniiwan na nila ang equipment. This much I heard from defense officials themselves, ang AFP officers natin. And kasama sa mutual defense ito, pag may exchange of information, especially intelligence information. If you can recall, si (Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias) Marwan was pinpointed accurately (in Mamasapano in Maguindanao province on January 2015) with the use of technical intelligence extended by the Americans.”
“Hiwalay na muna natin ang naging fate ng 44 fallen SAF troopers. Ang issue rito, papaano napadali ang pag-locate kay Marwan. And there were also different instances in the past lalo sa Abu Sayyaf, lalo laban natin sa terrorism, na nakakatulong talaga ang exchange of information. Ang worrisome lang dito, kung mawala rin ang benefits na nakukuha ng PH, meron tayong loss. Kailangan natin basahin ang nilalalaman ng VFA. Sa VFA hindi siguro masyado ganoon kalaki at mahirap i-quantify, di pa natin alam ano pwede mangyari in case ma-abrogate ang treaty. Or ano magiging effect nito sa other treaties related sa VFA. Maraming unknown factors dito so hindi natin pwede agad i-quantify ano mawawala sa atin, ano mga benefits na nade-derive natin na mawawala,” Lacson said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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