US Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement


The recent decision by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to terminate a two-decade old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with United States may end any future military cooperation between the two countries. The Philippines President had been swaying towards China in recent years even with the dispute in the South China Sea. In 2017, during the siege of Marawi, China donated military grade weapons to Philippines to combat ISIS-affiliated fighters in the city.

US has had military bases throughout Asia since the end of World War Two to maintain dominance in the Western Pacific.  The North-South axis of US bases from South Korea to Australia has become a containment effort of China’s military expansion in Asia. Losing Philippines as a strategic logistical base will create a gap along the containment perimeter.

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