(Dan Tri) – The President of the Philippines proposed that the US quadruple its aid to Manila in exchange for extending a security agreement between these two allied countries.
US Marines in the Philippines.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), after recent negotiations between US and Philippine officials, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said that the US must pay if it wants to maintain the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Mr. Duterte argued that the Philippines is the most favorable location in the region for US military forces to be stationed.
Mr. Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, stated that the US needs to increase aid to the Philippines to nearly the $16.4 billion that Washington provided to Pakistan in the period 2002-2017, instead of the $3.9 billion for the Philippines.
`Why don’t we charge them a fee so we can use that money to pay for the Covid-19 response, for medical care programs and to invest in irrigation systems for farmers?` he said.
`Dangerous transaction`
VFA negotiations took place after Mr. Duterte suddenly announced to stop this agreement with the US.
Some critics say that Mr. Duterte’s withdrawal of support for the VFA is a move that shows that his administration is moving closer to China, while moving away from its traditional ally – the United States.
Greg Poling, an expert on the East Sea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), commented: `Of course the US understands that security and economic aid are two inseparable elements in the negotiation.`
Expert Poling further noted that last year, the US provided 428 million USD in aid to the Philippines, which is Washington’s largest aid to countries in East Asia.
However, Mr. Derek Grossman, Indo-Pacific security expert at Rand Corporation, disagrees with this view.
