Unless the US provides the Philippines with vaccines, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Duterte sought at least 20 million vaccine doses from US.
“Ang kanila lang kasi kay iyong (VFA), matatapos na. Ngayon, ‘pag hindi ako pumayag, aalis talaga sila,” the president said in a televised meeting with Cabinet officials and doctors.
“Kung hindi sila maka-deliver ng maski na lang a minimum of mga 20 million vaccines, ah they better get out. No vaccine, no stay here,” he continued.
The VFA allows American soldiers to participate in military exercises in the country.
The Philippines was set to revoke the VFA in February but Duterte suspended its abrogation in June.
In the same meeting, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the earliest the Philippines could get its hands on western Covid-19 vaccines was May 2021. John Ezekiel J. Hirro