Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Visiting Forces Agreement)

Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: Visiting Forces Agreement

Visiting Forces Agreement

On June 1, the government of the Philippines notified the United States (U.S.) Embassy in Manila that it froze a February decision to withdraw from the PhilippinesUnited States Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The agreement between the two countries eases the ability for the U.S. to send military forces to the Philippines and supports the Mutual Defence Treaty the U.S. and Philippine governments signed in 1951.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force maintained two large bases – Naval Station Subic Bay and Clark Air Base – near the volcano Mount Pinatubo.

The termination of the VFA would not put an end to the U.S.-Philippines alliance, which is governed by the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty.
But the VFA — the latest iteration of which was initially ratified in 1999 — plays a fundamental role in normal military activities within the confines of the alliance.
Without a VFA, the temporary presence of U.S. forces in the Philippines and, importantly, the implementation of the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Act (EDCA), would be impossible.
The U.S.-Philippines alliance has seen its share of doldrums in the past. Most notably, after the Cold War, the Philippines in the early 1990s moved to end the permanent U.S. presence in the country. The 1999 VFA allowed the alliance to find a new footing.
In 2018, the Philippines had begun calling for a review of the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty, the bedrock of its seven-decade-long alliance with its former colonizer. The VFA, which came into force in 1999, is anchored on this mother treaty.

Manila wants a reset in the defence relationship, but COVID-19, domestic unrest, and a potentially polarizing November election may leave Washington too distracted to pay due attention to alliance issues.
An extra six months may make all the difference in giving both sides a chance to properly re-evaluate what role the U.S.-Philippine alliance can play in the current geopolitical environment. The termination procedure within the VFA establishes a 180-day period from announcement of intent to withdraw to when that withdrawal becomes official.
But later by June 3, Philipines announced the suspension of abrogation of VFA "in light of political and other developments in the region."

The present decision to suspend the abrogation comes amid two important developments, one regional and one global.
First, Manila has witnessed a series of provocations by China in the South China Sea, where it is a claimant state. The U.S. Navy has been present in the region and vocally supported these countries against Chinese assertiveness.
Separately, the implications of the global COVID-19 pandemic may be weighing on Manila. The Philippines has one of the region's least well-equipped militaries and, as room for manoeuvre for militaries becomes constrained amid the pandemic, continued U.S.-Philippine cooperation may allow for improved capacity to respond to various contingencies.

Beijing's establishment of two research stations, naming of 80 features (most of them underwater), and the creation of two new administrative districts, including one to govern the Spratlys, have stirred ripples in an already tense sea as the world reels from a pandemic.
Concerns about China's increasing interference in the marine economic activities of smaller claimants and the growing presence of its maritime militia are building, as is apprehension over the prospect of China declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone over the contested sea.
For Manila, all these factors highlight the urgency of updating its defense alliance with Washington.