Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed support on the suspension of the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between Philippines and United States.

"The Department of National Defense (DND) supports the decision to suspend the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which was officially communicated by the DFA to the United States Embassy on 1 June 2020," he said.

"The Philippine defense establishment is ready to continue working closely with our US counterparts to find solutions to common concerns such as the ongoing pandemic that has greatly affected both our countries," he added.

In a television interview, Lorenzana said the government has suspended the abrogation of VFA because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think the reason that I was told is because of this current pandemic, plus we need the cooperation from the countries, we need to cooperate with other countries to fight the pandemic and I think the President thought that its not timely to end the VFA at this time. That's why he suspended the (termination)," he said.

"We talked about it (suspending the VFA termination) with Sen. Bong Go in one of our conferences one month ago and we discussed about it and I said, I think he said it's not timely to end the VFA because of what's happening worldwide. So that's it. That's the only reason he said. He told me because there were just very few people in that meeting," said Lorenzana.

Lorenzana said the letter informing the US last February on terminating the VFA ''is suspended.''

"It will not take effect as it should in August of this year. So we will continue our usual activities with the United States, our armed forces and the US armed forces, especially the Balikatan and all other exercises that we do year round" Lorenzana added.

Lorenzana said "the DND and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will continue to consult with the Office of the Presidential Commission on Visiting Forces on issues that need to be addressed."

"In times of crises and global uncertainty, it is our belief that nations are only made stronger if we work together and focus our efforts on tackling the various challenges that confront us all," he said. Robina Asido/DMS