2/25/2020 What Is the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement, and Why Does It Matter?

t Matter? | Center for Strategic and International Studies

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CRITICAL QUESTIONS

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What Is the Philippines-United States

Visiting Forces Agreement, and Why Does It
Matter?
February 12, 2020

Yesterday, the Philippines announced it had given notice

<https://twitter.com/dododulay/status/1227085202683396102> to the United States that it intended
to withdraw from the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between
the two countries. e following is a quick summary of what the VFA is and why it
matters.

Q1: Is the VFA the Mutual Defense Treaty?

A1: No. e VFA is an agreement between the two countries in support of the Mutual
Defense Treaty <https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/phil001.asp> (MDT). e MDT was
established in 1951 between the United States and the Philippines to provide mutual
support in case of foreign attack.

Q2: Why is the Philippines backing out?

A2: e proximate driver of this change is that President Rodrigo Duterte of the
Philippines is unhappy with the revocation of the U.S. visa
<https://www.rappler.com/nation/249936-bato-dela-rosa-con rms-us-visa-canceled-january-2020> of one
of his key allies, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. Senator dela Rosa was formerly Chief of
the Philippine National Police and led a signature anti-drug e ort of President Duterte,

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which has resulted in thousands of deaths of Filipinos suspected of being involved in

illegal drugs. e U.S. State Department has reported <https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-
country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/philippines__trashed/> a high level of extrajudicial
killings as a result of the anti-drug campaign, speci cally while dela Rosa was Chief.

e broader context is that President Duterte has sought to create greater distance
between the Philippines and the United States—what he calls an “independent foreign
policy <https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/09/16/duterte-ph-to-have-independent-foreign-policy>.”
Several elements of that approach include outreach to Russia for closer ties and potential
arms sales and an e ort to develop stronger economic and diplomatic ties with China
even as the Philippines continues to push back (with diminishing force) against China’s
encroachment of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

President Duterte is pursuing this approach despite high favorability ratings

<https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/10/around-the-world-more-see-the-u-s-positively-than-
china-but-little-con dence-in-trump-or-xi/> for the United States in polls of the Philippines’
population.

Q3: What is the VFA?

A3: e two countries signed the VFA

<https://www.lawphil.net/international/treaties/vfa_1998.html> in 1998. It provides simpli ed
access procedures to the Philippines for U.S. service members on o cial business (for
example, U.S.-Philippines bilateral training or military exercises), and it provides a series
of procedures for how to resolve issues that may come up as a result of U.S. forces being
present in the Philippines.

Q4: Why does the VFA matter?

A4: e VFA matters for several reasons in addition to ease of access and clear procedures
for the two countries to follow.

First, it provides clear procedures and processes for how to handle issues that arise as a
result of U.S. service members presence in the Philippines. For example, in 2015, a U.S.
Marine was tried and convicted <https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/world/asia/us-marine-
joseph-pemberton-guilty-in-killing-of-transgender-woman-in-philippines.html> of killing a Filipina.
Upon conviction, the service member was sentenced to a 12-year prison term. Because of
the VFA, he is serving that time in a facility jointly established by the Philippines and the
United States <https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/12/04/1529186/pemberton-camp-detention-
extension-nbp> rather than a Philippine prison.

ird, it is a political signal of the closeness of the U.S.-Philippines alliance. Analysts and
former o cials believe that signaling close ties between the United States and Philippines
supports e orts to deter China <https://www.rappler.com/nation/251636-vfa-termination-national-
tragedy-albert-del-rosario> from further encroaching on Philippines’ sovereignty.

By withdrawing from the VFA, President Duterte doubles down on his messaging that the
Philippines seeks distance from its relationship with the United States.

Q5: What is next?

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2/25/2020 What Is the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement, and Why Does It Matter? | Center for Strategic and International Studies

A5: e termination procedure within the VFA establishes a 180-day period from
announcement of intent to withdraw to when that withdrawal becomes o cial. Without a
new agreement, then, U.S. forces currently operating in the Philippines will need to leave
or nd a new legal status. is would include U.S. forces present to provide assistance to
the AFP ght against Islamic State-a liated insurgents in the southern islands. While the
AFP and broader Philippine government e orts are making headway against the
insurgents, U.S. support is amplifying and expediting progress for the Philippines while
slowing or even reversing the spread of the Islamic State into Southeast Asia.

e United States could also seize on the moment to seek to renegotiate a new and better
agreement with the Philippines—one that satis es President Duterte’s objective of
standing strong against the United States, and one that provides President Trump an
opportunity to put his unique stamp on another major agreement, this time a defense
agreement, that could advance U.S. interests for years to come.

John Schaus is a fellow with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington, D.C.

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