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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte decided against terminating the Philippines-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) on July 29, which was set to end at the end of this year.
Duterte's decision came as a welcome development for U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
"This is great news," McCaul wrote in a tweet through the House Foreign Affairs GOP Twitter page. "The U.S. and the #Philippines are linked by family, friendship and battle against common foes. Our alliance is critical as the #CCP threatens Philippine sovereignty."
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana spoke about Duterte's plan to continue with the VFA at a news conference on July 30, Voice of America reported.
"The U.S. welcomes Pres. Duterte's decision to recall the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement as announced by SND @del_lorenzana, who also met with @SecDef Austin to discuss the strong U.S.-Philippines alliance," Chargé d'Affaires John C. Law posted on Twitter.
The VFA agreement was initially reached in 1998, but was set to end after Duterte sent a letter to U.S. officials last year that stated the Philippines would be pulling out, according to Voice of America.
"This provides us some decree of certainty going forward, so we can plan further in advance," Austin said, according to Voice of America. "And with that long-range planning, we can actually do more comprehensive exercises."
According to Al Jazeera, the VFA allowed for U.S. troops to rotate in and out of the Philippines for "war drills and exercises," but in recent years has become even more crucial to hold the aggressive Chinese military back especially in the South China Sea.
Duterte had previously mulled cancelling the agreement, which is a vital part of the relationship between the two countries, Al Jazeera reported.
Duterte ended up deciding to retract the termination letter and keep the agreement in place after he met with Austin, according to Voice of America.