MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:50 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to extend the suspension of the Philippines' withdrawal from its Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Wednesday.
Locsin said Duterte instructed him to convey his decision to extend the suspension of the abrogation of the defense pact with the country's longtime ally and former colonizer for another six months.
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The president came with the decision "to enable us to find a more enhanced, mutually beneficial, mutually agreeable, and more effective and lasting arrangement on how to move forward in our mutual defense."
In a statement addressed to US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, Locsin said he will send a diplomatic note about this latest development.
"The past four years have changed the South China Sea from one of uncertainty about great powers’ intentions to one of predictability and resulting stability with regard to what can and cannot be done, what will and will not be acceptable with regard to the conduct of any protagonist in the South China Sea," Locsin said.
With the fresh extension, the VFA termination will take effect 69 days after June 1, 2021, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
VFA terminated in February
In February, Locsin seerved the notice of termination to the US Embassy in Manila. The Philippines' withdrawal from the agreement would have been effective 180 days from receipt of notice.
The termination of the VFA was prompted by the cancellation of Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa's US visa, although the Palace said that the decision to end the agreement was caused by many factors, including what the government says is US meddling in domestic matters.
The revocation of Dela Rosa's visa is believed to be over his role, when he was Philippine National Police chief, in the government's "war on drugs", and the continued detention of Sen. Leila De Lima, a vocal government critic who is facing drug charges that she denies and says were politically-motivated.
Duterte had given the US a month to "correct" the revocation of the visa.
Termination suspended in June
The Philippines, however, suspended the termination of the VFA for six months "in light of political and other developments" in the region in June. The initial suspension of the termination would have ended in December.
Following the suspension, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the decision of Duterte on the termination of the VFA was due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The US has been providing assistance, such as equipment for quarantine facilities, to the Philippines in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
"We need to cooperate with other countries to fight the pandemic and I think the president (Duterte) thought that it's untimely to end the VFA at this moment," Lorenzana said told CNN Philippines in June.
During a visit to Manila last year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured the Philippines that any armed attack against Filipinos in the South China Sea would trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countrys.
In July, more than a month after the US received the notification from the Philippine government, Pompeo declared Washington's new policy on South China Sea.
Pompeo said the US would consider Beijing's claims to offshore resources in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, as "completely unlawful."
"The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire," Pompeo said.