MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte thanked US President Joe Biden and the American people on Monday for giving Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines.
“I would like to thank President of the United States, [Joe] Biden, the US government, and the people of America for not forgetting us,” Duterte said in his Talk to the People.
Duterte made the statement as he prepares to personally greet the arrival of 3 million doses of Moderna given by the US government on August 3.
“Pasalamat tayo sa kanila. May naibigay naman ako (Let us thank them. I gave them) concession. I conceded to the continuance of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA),” Duterte said. “Do not forget us because we share, we share, the same outlook sa geopolitics dito (here), specifically, in Southeast Asia.”
So far, the Philippines has received 34,275,740 doses of Covid-19 vaccine and has administered a total of 20,863,544 doses.
In a Palace press conference on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated that the national interest and the US government’s Covid-19 vaccine contribution most likely influenced Duterte’s decision to keep the VFA.
“The President considered the totality of the recent situation and thorough assessment [of the agreement] based on national interest. By considering the totality of the circumstances, there is a good possibility that it was factored in the situation,” Roque said.
On July 29, Duterte met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III at the Malacañang Palace in Manila.
The US donated 3,240,850 one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the Philippines last month through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, a global project to encourage equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.
According to the data from the US Embassy in Manila, the US government has donated at least 13.2 million Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines, including 10 million doses through the COVAX facility.
Roque previously stated that Duterte’s decision to revoke the VFA is based on “upholding the country’s strategic core interests, the clear definition of Philippine-US alliance as one between sovereign equals, and clarity of US position on its obligations and commitments under [Mutual Defense Treaty].”
The VFA is a military agreement signed by Manila and Washington in 1998 that allows American troops to participate in military drills in the Philippines without requiring a passport and visa.
The 1951 MDT, on the other hand — the country’s sole and longest-running military pact with another country — aims to strengthen defense and security cooperation between Philippine and US troops.
In February 2020, Duterte ordered the revocation of the VFA.
The military deal was meant to be terminated in August of last year, but it was postponed for three six-month periods.
The recent came in June of this year, when Duterte opted to extend the validity of the VFA for another six months.
