PR
MANILA — Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar stands by President Rodrigo Duterte’s warning to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States as the Philippine government waits for the former’s response on the request to reinstate Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s visa.
“We stand by the President’s decision,” Secretary Andanar said on ANC’s Headstart on Monday.
During the interview, Secretary Andanar highlighted that President Duterte’s warning on the VFA sends a message defying the neo-colonialism treatment that the United States has long imposed on the Philippines.
“I think this is a matter of the Philippines sending a message to the United States that we are not succumbing to their neo-colonialism way of treating the Philippines and that we are no longer a colony of the United States,” he said.
“They should respect our sovereignty. They should respect our constitution, our laws, and our bylaws,” he added.
Secretary Andanar said that the President has given the US government an ultimatum for the decision to be reversed.
“He is very serious. Based on the statement of President Duterte, he is giving the American government one month to correct its actions on Senator Bato Dela Rosa,” Andanar noted.
“So, we are observing. We are waiting for the response of the United States. After that, we shall cross the bridge when we get there,” he added while clarifying that the primary reason for the termination is “the continuous disrespect” on the country’s judicial system.
The PCOO chief underscored that the Philippines has its own judiciary process and that the US should not intervene on it.
“The government continues to press on the matter that we do have our own judicial process in the Philippines, the same bureaucracy that Sen. Leila de Lima headed when she was the Secretary of the Department of Justice. It’s working,” he said.
While the relationship between the two presidents is well, Secretary Andanar mentioned that the sovereignty of the countries should be respected.
“President Trump is a good friend of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as we witnessed in several engagements of both leaders, but the fact is you have some members in the US Senate who are intervening with our business here in the Philippines and that should not be the case,” he said.
“We are a sovereign state, they are a sovereign state. Our relationship is based on mutual trust and respect and if you don’t respect the laws and the by-laws of our country then there is a problem there,” he emphasized.
