IT WAS announced that President Rodrigo Duterte withdrew his earlier order to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States of America. This came on the day US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited the country and met with Duterte.
This decision was celebrated by the Foreign Affairs and Defense departments, with Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana stating that the VFA is “in full force again.”
They can keep those celebrations to themselves. This most recent action by the Duterte administration only shows how subservient the Duterte government is to foreign interests.
The VFA and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement – a separate deal signed under then President Benigno Aquino III – all but guarantee the continued stay of the US military in the Philippines. With these deals, the government practically relinquished its authority over American facilities and troops in the country, and permitted the entry of foreign military equipment and weapons, jeopardizing the safety and security of Filipinos who may be unwillingly dragged into a conflict between the United States and a third country.
The only thing Duterte has done to advance the cause of Philippine sovereignty was to order the termination of the VFA. Even then he could not follow through.
For months, Duterte stalled and kept suspending the effectivity of the termination, but we still continued to hold him to his declaration, hoping that, one day, he would finally put an end to US military presence in the country.
Now, true to his traitorous and unreliable nature, Duterte reneged on his word just as a senior American official arrives in the country. It reeks of spinelessness and submissiveness.
That was also the case back when Duterte gave an absolute pardon to US Marine Joseph Pemberton, who was convicted of the brutal murder of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude, and that is the case now. Nothing but weakness behind a torrent of hot air.
We need a President who is willing to assert the country’s sovereignty against foreign military expansion and influence, be it Chinese or American. Not a so-called commander-in-chief who spends his time running from one master to another, waiting for one to offer a juicier treat.
Other nations – also with limited military capabilities – are learning to stand up to foreign aggression without compromising their independence and without being subservient to another country. If only we had leadership willing to do the same. Instead, we’re stuck with a lame-duck president who could not even match all that bravado with meaningful action – not on the issue of the pandemic, not on corruption, and not on national sovereignty.
The meeting between President Duterte and US Secretary Austin, with all the surrounding concessions just to stay in America’s good graces, only confirmed the iniquitous relationship this administration has cultivated between the Philippines and a foreign superpower. To paint a perfectly accurate picture, the only thing that meeting lacked was one person kowtowing to the other. – REYLAN VERGARA, secretary general, Panay Alliance Karapatan
