By El Amigo

MANILA — As President Rodrigo Duterte orders the start of the termination process of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte keeps herself busy right in Washington D.C. attending a leadership program.

The program is allegedly sponsored by the State Department.

This was confirmed by no other than Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez on his Facebook account.

His post showed Romualdez, along with embassy personnel, welcoming Duterte-Carpio and Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco.

The two local chief executives are participants in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) which started last Jan 21 and ends Jan 28.

Theme of the IVLP is “Strong Cities, Strong Partnerships: A Comprehensive Approach to Preventing Terrorism in Southeast Asia.”

A post on Twitter of the East Asia Pacific Bureau of the US State Department also showed that Duterte-Carpio and Climaco met with their US counterparts during the IVLP exchange, which was focused on “working with allies to prevent counter terrorism.”

Duterte-Carpio confirmed their participation in the program adding that from Washington D.C., the event would also be held in Los Angeles.

President Duterte ordered the termination of the VFA after the US voided the visa of Sen. Ronald de la Rosa along with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other high-ranking military and police officials for their alleged involvement in President Duterte’s bloody drug war. (ISMAEL AMIGO/Editor/Currentph.com)