Ianunsiyo ni Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. na pinalawig ang suspensiyon ng termination ng Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Amerika.
Batay sa inilabas na pahayag, sinabi ng kalihim na napagdesisyunan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na pinalawig ang suspensyon nito nang anim pang buwan.
“My President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, has instructed me to convey with the appropriate formality his decision to extend the suspension of the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement by yet another 6 months, to enable us to find a more enhanced, mutually beneficial, mutually agreeable, and more effective and lasting arrangement on how to move forward in our mutual defense,” paliwanag ni Locsin.
“A great deal of credit for the renewal of stability and security goes to deft diplomacy, unequivocal expressions of policy, sturdy postures of strength combined with unfailing tact, and pragmatic national security advice exhibited by both our governments in the same period,” dagdag pa nito.