Senator Panfilo Lacson expressed concern on the recent plans of President Rodrigo Duterte to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement if ever that the United States of America is not going to “correct” the visa of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa.
According to Lacson, he sees no connection why Duterte was ready to cancel the VFA for the sake of Dela Rosa’s visa.
“A US visa is a conditional authorization granted to a foreigner. It may be canceled without explanation or justification. The VFA is a bilateral agreement between the Ph and the US that went through some careful and diplomatic discussion. Pray tell, where is the connection?” said Lacson on his Twitter post.
In another interview, Lacson said that the move of the President is “unfortunate and unnecessary”.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr, a friend of Lacson described the President’s action as a “good move”.
“Good move. Visas fall under US Justice Department in the Executive Branch. Either they’re serious about US-PH military alliance or not. They can have de Lima after her trial. In fact, they can pass a law making her a US citizen and part of the US military so she is covered by VFA,” Locsin said.
Lacson then responded to Locsin’s tweet “You’re obviously joking, as I am now obviously stating the obvious,”
You’re obviously joking, as I am now obviously stating the obvious.
— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) January 24, 2020
Yesterday, President Rodrigo Duterte gave one month to the US to correct the visa issue of Senator Dela Rosa who’s a close ally of the chief executive.
“I warning you this is the first time, pag hindi ninyo ginawa ang correction diyan, one, I will terminate the bases visiting forces agreement. Tapusin ko yang p*tang i*na. I am giving notice and they begin to count. I am giving government and the American government one month from now,” said Duterte.
VFA is an agreement signed between the Philippines and the U.S in 1998.