President Duterte has threatened to cut political ties with its longterm military ally after the White House blacklisted Senator Ronald Dela Rosa. The 74-year-old leader has warned the US it is ready to repeal an agreement on the deployment of troops and equipment to the region if the application is not reinstated. Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said: “Last night, the President issued a directive for cabinet members not to travel to the US.
“We will abide with the instruction of the President.”
Mr Dela Rosa had previously served as the chief enforcer of President Duterte’s anti-narcotics crackdown.
The brutal drug campaign resulted in the deaths of more than 5,000 people since 2016.
The former police chief said the US embassy in the Philippines did not explain why the visa had been canceled, the New York Times reports.
The latest move to prohibit the travel of Government officials to the US, comes after President Duterte warned the Philippines is ready to pull out of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The VFA, signed in 1998, gave legal status to thousands of US troops to enter the country for military exercises and humanitarian assistance operations.
Last week President Duterte gave Washington an ultimatum of one-month to reverse the decision.
He said: “If you do not do the correction, one, I will terminate the bases, the Visiting Forces Agreement.
“I am giving the Government and the American Government one month from now.”
Renato De Castro, professor of international relations at the De La Salle University in Manila, said the shift in policy represents the beginning of the end of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
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“He is articulating the Chinese position that the US is the troublemaker in the region.”
Since taking office in 2016 President Duterte has reduced tensions with Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.
In 2016, the Philippines won a ruling from The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated China’s claim over most of the disputed waters, however China has continued to increase its presence in the region.