By Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States might not be the proper response to the cancellation of a senator’s visa, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Friday.

Recto warned the Philippine government against scrapping the 1998 VFA with the U.S. if the latter refuses to reverse the cancellation of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s U.S. visa.

Duterte on Thursday night said he gives the U.S. a month to “correct” its move against Dela Rosa, who was the first chief implementor of his war against drugs.

“It won’t be good,” the Senate leader told the Manila Bulletin when asked on its impact.

Recto said that if he were President Duterte, he would “respond commensurately” to the U.S.

“I would consult the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) secretary and ask him for an adequate and commensurate response. Maybe file a diplomatic protest as well. But canceling the VFA may not be a commensurate response,” he suggested.

Recto also pointed out that the VFA was part of the Philippine’s 68-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the U.S. so, “It should not be terminated,” he said.

The MDT states that both the Philippines and U.S. would support each other if one of them were to be attacked by a third-party country.

Still, Recto maintained that he supports President Duterte in standing up for Dela Rosa and the sovereignty of the country.

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos said the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and not the VFA, should be cancelled.

“EDCA should be terminated, not VFA. VFA allows [Philippine] laws to apply to American soldiers when they are in the Philippines. Not like before that when American troops come to [the Philippines], only American law will apply in accordance with international law,” Marcos said in a statement.

“It was [the] VFA that allowed us to arrest Daniel Smith, the rapist American soldier. EDCA allows US troops and equipment to be stationed in designated Philippine bases for a longer time, skirting the constitutional ban on foreign bases in the Philippines,” she added.

The EDCA was signed by the Philippines and the U.S. in 2014 as part of the implementation of the MDT. This allows Filipino and American troops to hold joint training exercises, or the Balikatan, and undertake humanitarian assistance and disaster relief cooperation.

The DFA, in its website, said the EDCA is “consistent with the Philippine Constitution, laws, and jurisprudence.”

In an interview in the Senate, Dela Rosa said he plans to talk to the President to reconsider his position against the U.S. following the cancellation of his visa.

Duterte has turned down U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation for him to attend the U.S.-ASEAN Summit in March.

“Sir, baka pwedeng puntahan mo na ‘yong Amerika para fair sa lahat, para neutral and independent. Baka sabihin nila ang foreign policy natin ay tilted lang towards China and Russia,” Dela Rosa told reporters. (Sir, maybe you can go now to America to be fair to all, to be neutral and independent. They might say our foreign policy is tilted only towards China and Russia.)

“Matagal na natin kaalyado ‘yan (The U.S. has long been our ally)…So for old times sake. Saka (And) the more friends, the better. So huwag nating awayin, kaibiganin natin sila (let’s not fight them and strengthen our friendship with them),” he added.

For his part, Sen. Francis Tolentino said he sees no problem should Duterte move to terminate the VFA, saying there is still the MDT and the EDCA to allow U.S. troops to visit the country.