Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has restored a crucial pact governing the presence of US troops in the Southeast Asian nation, said the two countries' defence ministers on Friday, reversing a decision that caused increasing concern in Washington and Manila.

The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) provides rules for the rotation of thousands of US troops in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises. It has assumed additional importance as the United States and its allies contend with an increasingly assertive China.

Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he was unsure...