News Story: Yasay says no shift in PH policy with US

Perfecto Yasay Jr (Image: Wiki Commons)

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday clarified that there will be no change in policy entered into between the Philippines and the United States despite President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s pronouncement that Elite American forces must leave Mindanao.

DFA Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. made the clarification after some sectors were interpreting his message that the Duterte administration would no longer honor Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

“We have to be careful, he (President Duterte) said it specifically in the context of wanting to save the lives of these Americans who might be exposing themselves to unnecessary risks but this should not be understood as a statement to mean that there is now a shift in policy,” Yasay said in a chance interview.

Read the full story at Tankler