MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte does not need to consult the Cabinet on his decision to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, Malacañang said Monday, as it denied that there is a rift among officials over the issue.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told a Senate hearing last Thursday that Duterte did not consult them on his decision to pull out of the two decades-old pact, which allowed Filipino and American soldiers to conduct joint drills in the Philippines.
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But Locsin noted that the president, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, has the prerogative to make such a decision. Duterte, Locsin noted, can express his desire to scrap the VFA before Cabinet members give him advice on whether the move is a wise one.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo echoed a similar view in a press briefing Monday and claimed that Duterte studied his decision to abrogate the VFA before making it public.
"The president is the chief architect (of government policy), he does not need to consult (with his Cabinet members). The president is good and he is a lawyer," Panelo said.
"If he has doubts on certain areas, perhaps that’s the time that he consults," he added.
Panelo said the Cabinet fully supports Duterte's position on the VFA.
The president announced his plan to terminate the VFA last January 23, a day after his political ally Sen. Ronald dela Rosa confirmed that his US visa had been canceled.
Malacañang, however, claimed that the "intrusions" into the Philippine justice system by some US officials had also impelled Duterte to make the decision.
Other reasons cited by administration officials are the US Senate resolution condemning the alleged human rights violations under Duterte; the demand by some American senators to free detained opposition Sen. Leila de Lima; and the US budget provision barring people behind De Lima's detention from entering the US.
"They (US officials) committed successive acts and he felt they are assaulting our sovereignty. So he made the decision," Panelo said.
No inconsistency?
Panelo also shrugged off claims that there are disagreements within the Cabinet over Duterte's decision to walk out of the VFA.
Confusion arose after Panelo and Lorenzana issued seemingly conflicting statements on the VFA over the weekend.
Panelo announced last Friday that the president had ordered Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to tell Locsin to transmit the termination notice to the US.
The following day, Lorenzana said Locsin has not received such order, even dismissing the announcement as "fake news." On the same day, Medialdea said he had not received Duterte's directive to abrogate the VFA.
Administration critics including Vice President Leni Robredo have chided the administration for supposedly issuing inconsistent statements about the termination of the VFA.
Panelo insisted that the president really wanted Medialdea to tell Locsin to transmit the termination notice to the US government.
"His (Duterte) response was, the way I quoted him, I will instruct ES (Executive Secretary) to tell Secretary Locsin to send the notice of termination to the US government. When I talked to him, it was a weekend," the Palace spokesperson said.
"So apparently, since there was no work (during the weekend), how can he relay the instruction?" he added.
Panelo said he did not know whether Medialdea has spoken to Locsin regarding the matter.
"But definitely, I asked him (Duterte), is your position unchanged? 'Yes.' I think that is more important," he added.
Panelo said he, Lorenzana and Medialdea were conveying the same message except for the verb tenses.
"He (Lorenzana) did not say anything wrong. So the three of us are saying the same thing. I was using the future tense... I was just quoting him (Duterte). I will instruct ES. But it has not reached him... But it doesn’t mean that what I shared to you is false news," Panelo said.
Panelo said he has already explained his statement to Lorenzana.
"I told them from now on, the source of info on VFA (visiting forces agreement) is me," he added.
"We don’t have to talk to each other, we, the Cabinet members. Because the president is just relaying the same thing to us. I think the problem stemmed from the tenses. The future tense became past tense. Others reported that it has already been instructed, others said it is forthcoming, hence the confusion... But actually what is more important is the position of the president has not changed."