SUMMARY
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reserved a portion of his weekly pandemic public address to rant against Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Panfilo Lacson after they criticized him for publicly demanding that Americans pay if they want the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to continue.
Duterte on Monday, February 15, accused Robredo and Lacson of not knowing enough about the issue and for supposedly interfering in a job that the 1987 Constitution left for the President.
“The Constitution of the Philippines provides that the foreign policy is vested with the president alone…. Kung ano ang policy na gusto niya ipalabas (Whatever policy he wants to pursue) for the Philippines is vested in the president and not with the senators or the vice president,” said Duterte.
However, Robredo and Lacson were merely commenting on Duterte’s manner of speaking about his ultimatum to Americans. Robredo expressed her thoughts in her radio program, while Lacson made a series of tweets.
Duterte said he could “forgive” Lacson for his sentiments because he is not a lawyer. But he scored Robredo, who is a lawyer like himself.
He repeated his familiar harangue that Robredo is not fit to be president.
“I don’t know if it’s a pretended ignorance kay Lacson, pero itong kay Robredo, sabi ko nga ‘Ma’am, kung ikaw ang presidente, hindi mo alam ang trabaho mo, dapat alam mo….’ You should not open your mouth when we are negotiating,” railed Duterte.
(I don’t know if it’s pretended ignorance on Lacson’s part, but Robredo, I said, ‘Ma’am, if you are president, you don’t know your job, you should know it.’ You should not open your mouth when we are negotiating.)
Duterte himself had made his threat against the US in public, as Filipino and American officials were negotiating the VFA behind closed doors.
He then said that his controversial remarks were made with a “purpose,” but he did not elaborate.
Depends on ‘how Americans behave’
The Philippine leader took exception to being likened to an extortionist, listing down a series of grievances he believes the Philippines should hold against the US.
These include arms purchased by the Philippines which the US supposedly “took years” to deliver, and the US supposedly refusing to let Manila buy helicopters due to human rights concerns.
However, Duterte was likely referring to rifles blocked by the US Congress. It was Canada that had blocked the sale of helicopters when it ordered a review of the deal due to concerns about the Duterte government’s human rights record.
The Philippine President also claimed that the US is “slowly converting Subic to an American base,” according to reports from the Philippine Army.
“How can you say ‘extortion’ when the Americans have many debts they are yet to pay?” Duterte said in Filipino.
The fate of the VFA, he said, depends on “how the Americans behave towards us.”
Duterte’s own foreign secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr, had said continuing the VFA is “more beneficial” to the Philippines than its abrogation. He cited benefits, like how the VFA serves as a deterrent against Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, provides support for disaster response, and allows the US to secure funds from its Congress for more defense aid to the Philippines.
Unless Duterte again pauses the process for terminating the agreement, the VFA will end in August 2021. – Rappler.com
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