The Philippines can request military assistance from Russia or China if they terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US, a Palace official said on Monday. Manila on Friday said it had begun a process to end the VFA on the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who wanted to stop the deal after Washington canceled the visa of his former police chief, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa.
VFA, which includes the behavior of American soldiers in the Philippines, is between a military agreement between the Philippines and the US.
"He (Duterte) said that we can go to Russia, we can go to China for military assistance," Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told ANC's Headstart.
"That is the prerogative of the President, if he wants our country to be friends with other superpowers like the People's Republic of China and Russia, then so be it."
Andanar said the president's decision was "the problem of the Philippines which sent a message to the US that we do not give up on their neo-colonialism."
"The past administration, I would say, supports in a way that has given the US freedom in whatever they want our government to do," he said.
"This is a way for our President to say look, we are an independent country and therefore we must stop with dependence on the United States."
Former Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. said that Manila would be the "biggest loser" if he ended his VFA with Washington because it would lose military training and training assistance as China continued to militarize the West Philippine Sea.
"That will make China even more courageous to consider even with the MDT (Military Defense Agreement), VFA, they have militarized 3 reefs they took from the Philippines," he told the ANC Initial Edition.
"What I think the US will say is if that's what you want then it's fine, but please pay attention to the consequences. I don't think the US will beg us. I think we will be the biggest losers, not the US."
The US and China, the two largest economies in the world currently involved in trade competition, have exchanged thorns over what Washington said is Beijing's militarization of the sea which is still being discussed.
Beijing's allies Russia and the US, the largest military power in the world, have competed to become the strongest in the world.
CREDIT and RESPECT TO THE FOLLOWING SOURCE : news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/27/20/no-vfa-manila-can-seek-military-aid-from-russia-china-palace-official
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