Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin on Wednesday disclosed that President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to suspend by six more months the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.

In a statement, Locsin said that he had sent a diplomatic note informing White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien of Duterte's decision.

The extension, Locsin said, will "enable us to find a more enhanced, mutually beneficial, mutually agreeable, and more effective and lasting agreement on how to move forward in our mutual defense."

He pointed out that "the past four years have changed the South China Sea from one of uncertainty about great powers' intentions to one of predictability and resulting stability with regard to what can and cannot be done, what will and will not be acceptable with regard to the conduct of any protagonist in the South China Sea."

The Philippines officially notified the US of its decision to scrap the VFA last Feb. 11 but Duterte suspended the termination for six months on June 2. The suspension would have ended on Dec. 2.

The latest suspension comes several days after the US presidential election which Democrat Joseph Biden won but whose victory is still being contested by President Donald Trump. Virgilio DC Galvez/DMS