A Reprieve for the U.S.–Philippines Military Alliance
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By Malcolm Cook
June 16, 2020
Long waits can let cooler heads prevail and reverse hot-headed decisions.
In January, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines threatened to terminate the 1998 Philippine–US Visiting Forces Agreement—a treaty-level pact that provides the operational framework for the alliance between the two countries—unless the White House reversed the cancellation of Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa’s visitor visa. Dela Rosa is a close confidant of Duterte and the chief architect of his signature ‘war on drugs’.
On 11 February, the Philippine government informed the US embassy in Manila that it planned to withdraw from the VFA. That move triggered the agreement’s 180-day cooling off period before termination.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/06/16/a_reprieve_for_the_usphilippines_military_alliance_115384.html
