Second, it is unclear whether the president has the constitutional power to repeal an international agreement ratified by the Philippine Senate. Senators still disagree on whether Duterte can unilaterally denounce the VFA and have even proposed that the Supreme Court weigh in on the legality of Duterte`s decision. The Philippine Senate ratified the VFA in 1999. To avoid the impression of a permanent deployment of U.S. troops to the Philippines, the Senate emphasized the “visiting” and “temporary” status of U.S. forces, consistent with their 1991 decision to abolish U.S. bases in the Philippines. “This agreement will remain in effect until the expiration of 180 days from the date on which a party of the other party has written that it wishes to terminate the contract.” A3: Both countries signed the VFA in 1998. It offers simplified access procedures to the Philippines for the United States. Members of the official operations services (for example. B bilateral training between the United States and the Philippines or military exercises) and offer a number of procedures to resolve problems that may arise from the participation of U.S. forces in the Philippines.
“It is entirely within the right of the Philippine government to do so if it finds that the agreement is no longer in our national interest,” Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana said on January 24. According to Article V of the agreement, the detention of U.S. personnel, whose case falls under Philippine jurisdiction, is “immediately the responsibility of the U.S. military authorities when they request it,” from the date the crime was committed, until all judicial proceedings are completed. But U.S. military authorities must make the defendants available to Philippine authorities “in good time for investigative or judicial proceedings related to the offense.” If the VFA ends, what will happen to other treaties and military agreements with the United States? Will Duterte really end VFA? According to most reports, he remains seriously in his will to eliminate the agreement. But here`s why the VFA and the U.S.-Philippines Alliance could survive the Dutertes firestorm. My research introduces that VFA itself is a product of past alliances.
In 1991, a more nationalist Philippine Senate voted not to renew a reciprocal basic agreement. Their decision led to the closure of the Subic Bay naval base and effectively forced the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Philippines. However, heightened security concerns in the South China Sea in the mid-1990s and the slow pace of modernization of the Philippine armed forces led Manila to resurrect defense relations with Washington by signing the VFA in 1998. The VFA establishes rules relating to the entry and exit of U.S. personnel in the Philippines, the movement of military ships and aircraft, and the import and export of equipment and accessories related to the activities covered by the agreement. The VFA also provides for a mutual or reciprocal agreement signed on 9 October 1998. This Agreement applies to Philippine personnel who are temporarily sent to the United States.
On that day, the Philippine government led by President Rodrigo Duterte officially announced to the United States that it would repeal the agreement that governs the status of U.S. forces in the Philippines. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), signed in April 2014 under benigno Aquino III, then president, serves to operationalize the VFA. . . .