Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday informed the US that if it wishes to keep its troops in the country under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), “you have to pay.” In 2019 Duterte announced that the VFA was to be rescinded in 2020, but, due to the onset of the pandemic, he postponed the deadline. Now he has named conditions.
“I would like to put on notice if there’s an American agent here, that from now on, you want the Visiting Forces Agreement done? Well, you have to pay,” Duterte said in his speech at the inspection of newly delivered air assets at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga. “It’s a shared responsibility, but your share of responsibility does not come free, because after all, when the war breaks out, we all pay,” he added.
