Duterte: VFA an executive agreement, not a treaty

DAVAO CITY, Philippines- President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he was keen on canceling the Visiting Forces Agreement, which he said was an executive agreement after all and not a treaty.

“Bye bye America,” he said.

READ: Duterte threatens to revoke VFA after US agency defers aid

Duterte said the US has been unfairly treating the country and the withholding of the aid under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Duterte’s latest comments about killing crime suspects were “deeply troubling, and they certainly are at odds with the Philippine government’s stated commitment to due process and rule of law.”
“This decision reflects the Board’s significant concerns around rule of law and civil liberties in the Philippines,” embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina said of the withholding of the MCC aid.

Duterte complained that the US wanted the Philippines to follow whatever it wanted it to do.

“And if we don’t, they would say will not give you aid. Is that how you treat a sovereign nation and an ally?” he asked.

Commenting on criticisms he was a murderer, Duterte said these tirades had come without the benefit of investigation.

“They made conclusions,” he said, adding that it would have been better for the US and other critics to lodge a complaint at the United Nations.

“We are a member of the UN, aren’t we?” he said.

Duterte then denied that all the drug-related killings happening in the country were the work of state forces. TVJ