MANILA – United States President Donald Trump said he did not mind President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to end a decades-old military agreement with the US.
In a speech on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), Trump said that the termination of the military pact between the two countries “would even save a lot of money for US.”
“I don’t really mind if they would like to do that, it will save a lot of money,” Trump said. “My views are different from others.”
Trump has frequently expressed a desire to bring US military forces home from decades-long deployments abroad and has strong-armed some allies into paying more for the right to US defense.
“The United States had helped the Philippines defeat Islamic State militants and I have a very good relationship with (President Rodrigo) Duterte. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Duterte earlier ordered the termination of the VFA with the United States. The decision will take effect in 180 days.
Duterte first expressed his desire to terminate the between the Philippines and the United States when the US cancelled the US visa of senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
Duterte, however, said that the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s visa was just the last straw as he thought of the termination since the US senators called for the release of Sen. Leila de Lima. The opposition sentor has been jailed for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison./PN
