MANILA, Philippines — In the face of China’s growing aggressiveness in the region, the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) by the Duterte administration is “unfortunate” and a “move in the wrong direction,” said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
The defense chief confirmed yesterday that Washington has received the notice of termination of the VFA from the Philippine government.
“I’m going to hear from my commanders. But you know, in my view, it’s unfortunate that they would make this move… I was there (in the Philippines). Had a very good meeting with Philippine defense officials, to include my counterpart who is a very good interlocutor on these matters,” Esper told reporters while preparing for a trip to Europe for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting.
He was referring to his official visit to the Philippines last November when he and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana discussed a broad range of shared security interests and priorities.
The two defense chiefs had also agreed to expand cooperation and strengthen bilateral alliance under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).
He pointed out that the US has bilateral alliance with the Philippines and collectively with a number of other allies in the region trying to have China follow international rules.
“As we try… bolster our presence and compete with them (Chinese) in this era of great power competition, I think it’s a move (VFA termination) in the wrong direction,” Esper said.
“We’ve got to digest it, 180 days. We’ve got to work through it, and we’ll just take a deep breath and take it one day at a time,” Esper said.
At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Esper’s statement was expected.
“Such a commentary is expected given that the VFA favors the US and its abrogation affects its global strategic defensive positioning,” Panelo said.
“From our point of view, however, the decision to terminate the VFA is a move in the right direction that should have been done a long time ago,” he added. “It is about time that we strengthen our defense capabilities.”
“Reliance on another country for our own defenses against the enemies of the state will ultimately weaken and stagnate our defense mechanisms.
“We must stand on our own and put a stop to being a parasite to another country in protecting our independence and sovereignty,” Panelo added.
Dismissing criticisms that the President’s action was made on a whim, Panelo said it was a “studied” action aimed at strengthening national interest and protecting the general welfare of the Filipinas.
“Our studied action is consistent and pursuant to our charting an independent foreign policy, with our foreign relations anchored solely on national interest and the general welfare of our people,” he said.
“As the President says, ‘we are friends to all, enemies to none.’ Should any country, however, threaten our territorial integrity and assault our sovereignty, we will rise by our own resources and valiantly defend our motherland the way our forefathers did during their time,” the presidential spokesman said.
Done in haste
Vice President Leni Robredo said she found it strange that the President acted swiftly on scrapping the VFA considering that he had been slow in dealing with the coronavirus problem.
“I’m surprised that it was done in haste,” she said, referring to VFA termination. “They decided despite the appeal of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), the Senate and other government officials (to review the VFA first),” she said in Filipino in Camarines Sur.
“I don’t know what is the reason. This is one thing that must be studied thoroughly,” Robredo, a lawyer, said.
The Vice President reiterated her warning on the possible implications of the termination of the VFA on national security.
“Why the rush? Is it because of an aggrieved ally? Because of the canceled visa? This might not be the right move if it’s our national security at stake,” she said, referring to the cancellation of the US visa of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, one of Duterte’s closest allies.
Robredo said while she does not question the authority of the President to make policy decisions, he should have listened to various sectors first before deciding to scrap the VFA.
“Duterte’s termination of the VFA is epically wrong. It is a gigantic geo-political blunder and a grievous misstep that may further unsettle the functioning of our very own government – one that is supposedly built on constitutionalism and the principle of checks and balances,” Sen. Leila de Lima said.
She said the VFA is an important cog in a whole system of defense and security arrangements with the US that include the MDT and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) from which the Philippines has benefitted for many years.
“We also have a working partnership with the US in countering terrorism and cyber attacks, and in checking the inflow of trafficked persons and illegal drugs to the country. This setup with the US, of which the VFA is an integral part, has likewise allowed us preferential treatment in foreign military financing and procurement of defense equipment from the US,” said De Lima.
Reliability as ally at stake
A maritime law expert, meanwhile, believes the development has put at stake the reliability of the Philippines as an ally of the US.
“The long-term impact is on our reliability as a treaty partner, as an ally,” Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said in an interview with The Chiefs aired on Cignal TV’s One News Tuesday night.
“They might think, why would you keep spending money, time and effort on the Philippines if it’s like this that on a whim, it can easily change its mind even on a matter that is supposedly of paramount importance, which is national defense,” he said.
Batongbacal said the development will also give a boost to those who argue for the termination of the US-Philippine military alliance in Washington.
“For the United States, losing the Philippines will be a major setback, a major obstacle. But they can simply rethink their strategy and plan around it. They will invest in new technologies, invest in other partners in order to make up for other gaps created by this,” he added.
On the part of the Philippines, he said the termination of the VFA will have an impact both internally and externally.
Batongbacal noted that it was through the agreement that the United States was able to provide assistance to the Philippines in various instances, such as in operations against terrorists and the humanitarian response in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
“The most concrete benefit we’ve seen recently is the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support provided by the United States during the siege of Marawi,” he said.
“That’s how the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able to properly address the situation and was able to really defeat the forces there within a relative short period of time,” added the maritime law expert.
While other agreements with the US might still push through, especially in terms of receiving military hardware, Batongbacal said the VFA termination may prove costly to the armed forces as they may now have to bring personnel overseas to train how to use these equipment.
“You have to consider probably greater expenses on the part of the Philippines in order to continue using these assets that came from the United States,” he added.
He also noted how the presence of the US military in the country contributes to the situation in the West Philippine Sea.
“It’s their presence there in the region, in our immediate area, which acts as a deterrent. If they have no reason to be so close to our areas, then we will lose that deterrence,” he said.
Batongbacal recalled that China established its presence at Panganiban (Mischief) Reef after the closure of the US military bases in the Philippines in the 1990s.
“The more important thing to remember is that we are the ones who asked for the VFA in order to protect ourselves from Chinese incursions back in the 1990s,” he said.
Defense analyst Jose Custodio also warned that the VFA termination could result in a military-led coup.
“There will be definitely unrest in the long term. It’s not as if it will happen overnight, (but) there will be a buildup of unrest as the lights begin to go out in the AFP,” he said in the same program.
“Right now, they are grumbling, there’s pushback from them. We all know there’s pushback from them when it comes to the VFA,” he added. With Helen Flores, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan, Janvic Mateo, Christina Mendez