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The Philippines
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III

Opinion | How the Philippines and US can save the Visiting Forces Agreement (and keep China at bay)

  • Although Rodrigo Duterte has railed against defence pacts with the US, Washington can show its commitment to them through high-level talks
  • With Beijing becoming more assertive in the South China Sea, Manila has the impetus to maintain robust security ties with the US

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President Rodrigo Duterte has railed against military pacts with Washington for increasing the risks of his country getting caught in a US-China conflict over the South China Sea. Photo: AP
Lucio Blanco Pitlo III
Ties between long-standing allies the Philippines and the United States have been strained by a disagreement over a two-decade old military pact that has enhanced defence and security interoperability and allowed the United States to maintain a presence in a region where China has become more assertive.
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Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte demanded that the US provide more funding to Manila to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement intact, after members of his cabinet agreed with their American counterparts on its importance. Duterte had said last year that he would cancel the VFA after one of his political allies was denied a visa to visit the US over human rights concerns. The termination, however, was put on hold twice, with officials from both sides scrambling to save the pact.

When Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in late January, both stressed the relevance of the alliance in maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific. Locsin suggested that the two sides would meet to discuss the VFA later this month.

Last week, Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, held phone talks, with Austin affirming his country’s commitment to the alliance and both officials recognising the importance of modernising the Philippine military and bolstering military interoperability through joint activities.

The VFA is anchored on the seven-decade-old Mutual Defence Treaty, which requires that both countries come to each other’s defence in case of an armed attack. Another pact, the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which was signed in 2014, provides US access to Philippine military bases. Duterte has railed against both the VFA and EDCA for increasing the risks of his country getting caught in a US-China conflict over the South China Sea.

There are two ways Washington can send a strong signal that it is keen to move past this rough patch and keep these military agreements, which give shape and form to the alliance. The first is to schedule high-level talks with the Philippines and the second is to make significant diplomatic appointments that underscore the importance of Manila to Washington. In all this, the US should be mindful that pressuring the Duterte government over democracy and human rights concerns will continue to cause tensions and could disrupt the VFA and EDCA anew.

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Filipino activists and opposition leaders march to protest the presence of Chinese vessels in the South China Sea at the Chinese Embassy in Makati City, Philippines, in April 2019. Photo: Reuters
Filipino activists and opposition leaders march to protest the presence of Chinese vessels in the South China Sea at the Chinese Embassy in Makati City, Philippines, in April 2019. Photo: Reuters

The timing of any discussions on the VFA is in Washington’s favour. Recent developments in the South China Sea – such as China’s controversial new coastguard law, which it says gives it the right to fire on any foreign vessels in waters it claims – may provide the Philippines with the impetus for keeping robust security ties amid a fluid geopolitical environment.

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