Duterte’s subtle threat to the US

President Duterte issued a statement the other day threatening to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) entered into between the Philippines and the US, after the latter cancelled senator Ronald "Bato" de la Rosa's US Visa purportedly because of his involvement in the extra-judicial killings during his stint as PNP Chief when President Duterte launched his bloody war against illegal drugs.

For me, what the president did only show that he acted in a decisive way, one who is a leader of a nation that is no longer under the shadow of foreign domination. Or maybe the US deliberately overlooked the fact that our country is already independent, a sovereign state, hence, it has no right whatsoever to dictate or teach us what to do in managing our internal affairs, specifically in prosecuting and punishing criminals that circumvent our existing laws.

Terminating the VFA with the US in response to the cancellation of Senator de la Rosa's visa is the prerogative of the president even without the concurrence of Congress. No less than incumbent Senator Panfilo Lacson used to say that in the absence of a Supreme Court ruling mandating the termination of VFA, the president can terminate it even without the concurrence of the Senate.

The US considers VFA as purely an executive agreement and needs no concurrence by the US Senate. Hence, on the part of President Duterte, he can unilaterally break that agreement anytime as he wishes. Armed with the legality of his personal decision and seemingly dismayed by the US decision cancelling De la Rosa's visa, President Duterte acted in a subtle way, announcing the termination of the VFA purposely to make the US reconsider its earlier decision.

Unlike other presidents before him, President Duterte is the only president of this country whom I know to have been courageous, aggressive and determined to carry out what he wanted to do, irrespective of who gets hurt for as long it falls under the bounds of law.

Consider the following controversial decisions of this Visayan president: Despite vehement opposition but upheld by the Supreme Court to be legal, he successfully interred into its final resting place the remains of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In March 1995, right after the execution of Filipino maid Flor Contemplacion in Singapore, then mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City was the only one among the many local government units officials who, upon learning the death of the unfortunate Filipina maid, told his supporters to look for a Singaporean flag and when they found one, he burned it in front of Davao City Hall in full view of the public. Consequently, he was declared persona non grata by the rich city state.

When he won the presidential elections on May 9, 2016, the declaration was lifted and he visited Singapore, signaling the restoration of normal relations between the two countries

There is no doubt that President Duterte is imbued with such kind of qualities of a leader who minces no words when speaking before the public, be it in formal speaking engagement or in ambush interview. He let his actions do the talking. The Filipino people can attest to that.

Now that he wanted to terminate the VFA in protest of the US cancellation of Senator De la Rosa's visa, let us see if Uncle Sam would meet the challenge head-on and give in to President Duterte's clever move.

Joselito S. Berdin

Lapu-Lapu City