Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatens to end military deal with US over visa dispute
- Leader angered by US decision to deny entry to senator and former police chief Ronald dela Rosa
- ‘I am giving the government and the American government one month from now,’ Duterte said
Visibly upset, Duterte vented his anger over the US decision to deny entry to Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who is now a senator.
Dela Rosa said the US embassy in the Philippines did not explain why his visa had been cancelled but that he believed it was most likely because of allegations of extrajudicial killings during his more than two-year term as police chief.
Dela Rosa was the chief enforcer of Duterte’s anti-narcotics crackdown, which has resulted in deaths of more than 5,000 people, mostly small-time drug dealers. Police say victims were shot by officers in self-defence.
“If you do not do the correction, one, I will terminate the bases, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). I will finish that son of a bitch,” Duterte said in a wide-ranging speech before former Communist rebels. “I am giving the government and the American government one month from now.”
The VFA, signed in 1998, accorded legal status to thousands of US troops who were rotated in the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance operations.