This is not the time to do a Pelosi and rip up the VFA.

A VFA-exit could come later, in a manner that is not rushed, but planned and programmed, and not out of pique. 

Certainly not this time when an intruder has built and continues to build what have become the bases of our insecurity right under our belly.   

If we abrogate the VFA, this sharp contrast will not escape our people’s attention:  On how we could let the red carpet stay for someone who has taken our land while booting the one who has been on our side in  protesting such occupation.

The VFA is far from a perfect agreement. It has kinks to our disadvantage too many to count. 

But these flaws are compensated, in part, by the help we get from the United States in times of natural disasters, of which we are one of the world’s most prone. 

They have become first responders, dispatching entire carrier groups to our aid during the powerful typhoons of the past decade, like Frank, Milenyo, Yolanda. 

Because we are too poor to modernize our military, we have relied on Americans to become a de facto disaster response unit.  And that is the inconvenient truth.

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• 2020 JAN 30 – PRESS RELEASE: “If US restores Bato’s visa, are we going to stop the VFA abrogation process?”