Philippines reinstate US military presence for vaccine supply

The Philippine authorities have reinstated an agreement with the US on the deployment of American troops in their territory in gratitude for the supply of vaccines against the coronavirus, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte said, Report informs referring to the Manila Bulletin newspaper.

“Let’s thank the US for this [supplying the coronavirus vaccines], I gave them something as a concession. I see the restoration of the foreign forces agreement as gratitude for that,” Duterte said.

He said that he would personally go to the airport to meet a new batch of the Moderna drug.

On February 11, the Philippines announced the termination of the bilateral military agreement with the US, which had been in force since 1998. This document allowed the American military to stay in the Philippines and also regulated the procedure for joint exercises. At the end of July, the defense ministers of the Philippines and the US announced the restoration of this treaty.