President Rodrigo Duterte said he was thus thanking the United States for supplying the US drug company Moderna
The Philippine authorities have reinstated the agreement with the United States on the presence of the US troops on its territory in gratitude for the supply of vaccines against coronavirus. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said this, the Manila Bulletin newspaper quoted him as saying on Tuesday.
“Let’s thank the US for this [supply of coronavirus vaccines], I gave them something as a concession. I see the restoration of the foreign forces agreement as a thank you for that”, – Duterte said.
He said he will personally go to the airport to pick up a new shipment of the US company Moderna.
On February 11, the Philippines announced to the US the termination of a bilateral military agreement that had been in place since 1998. The document allowed the US military to stay on Philippine territory and also regulated joint exercises. At the end of July, the Philippine and US defence ministers announced that the treaty would be reinstated.