Trump said he doesn’t mind if the Philippines breaks their military agreement with the United States

Washington: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he does not mind Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to end a decades-long military agreement with the United States, a position that is inconsistent with his minister of Defense, The latter was frustrated by the move.

Duterte has announced the termination of the two decades old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on Tuesday. US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper called the decision “unfortunate” because Washington and his allies urged China to adhere to the “international rules” of Asia. [L4N2AB0ZL]

The US ambassador to Manila said this was “an important and important step.” Duterte’s decision was triggered by the withdrawal of an American visa in the hands of a former police commissioner who had been in charge of Duterte. The bloody drug war, which came into effect 180 days later, has given American officials the hope that it can be reversed or postponed.

When asked about Duterte’s move and if there were any steps he could take to reconsider, Trump told White House reporters: “I don’t really care if they are willing to do this, which will save a lot of money ” Added: “My opinion is different.”

Trump has often expressed the wish to bring American troops home after decades of overseas engagement and has already armed some allies to pay more for US defense rights.

Trump said the United States has helped the Philippines defeat militants from the Islamic State. He said he had a “very good” relationship with Duterte and added, “We’ll see what happens.”

With the ambitions of China, Duterte’s decision can complicate US military interests throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Some Filipino senators quickly tried to stop the movement and said that Duterte had no right to unilaterally withdraw international treaties ratified by the Senate.

The VFA was important for the entire American-Philippine alliance and established rules for American soldiers on the former American territory of the Philippines. Despite Duterte’s complaints, including allegations of hypocrisy and abuse in the United States, Washington still calls the relationship “definitive.”

The end of the VFA has complicated Washington’s efforts to maintain its presence in the Asia-Pacific region due to frictions caused by the presence of US personnel in Japan and South Korea and security issues with China and North Korea.

Esper mentioned the period in which Duterte’s decision came into effect before he spoke to reporters on Tuesday.

“A hundred and eighty days. We have to work hard to solve this problem, and then take a deep breath and do one day at a time … I’m not that excited about these things. We have a process that needs to be completed.”

Some legislators in the Philippines are concerned that without VFA the other two conventions that form a long-term treaty between the United States and Manila will not be relevant, namely the enhanced cooperation agreement of 2014 under the Obama administration and the common defense treaty of 1951. “

Agreement proponents say they have helped stop China’s militarization in the South China Sea and that the United States has been providing US $ 1.3 billion in defense aid since 1998, which is crucial for increasing the capacity of Filipino troops with insufficient resources.