Ople: My foreign policy is GMA’s policy

Former Sen. Blas Ople was sworn in yesterday as foreign affairs secretary by President Arroyo, and declared immediately after his formal assumption of office that the proposed Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement (MLSA) does not need Senate ratification.

Yesterday’s oath-taking rites marked Ople’s return to Malacañang as a Cabinet member, following a 10-year term in the Senate that ended Monday. Ople, 75, served as secretary of labor during the Marcos administration.

"This is an honorable landmark in my life," Ople told Palace reporters. "I will implement the foreign policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

Describing the MLSA as an executive agreement, he said there was "no reason" to send it to the Senate for ratification "because it is just a set of guidelines of accounting to facilitate logistical support for the two countries."

He also said the MLSA does not give the US basing rights in the country.

The Constitution stipulates that all international treaties entered into by the Philippines need Senate concurrence.

"There is no need for a new treaty or a new political tremor for this agreement," Ople said.

Ople’s statements yesterday reiterated Malacañang’s position that the MLSA is a mere executive agreement which does not need a Senate review.

Following his Senate valedictory on Monday, Ople joined his former opposition colleagues in a Senate vigil that was prompted by the suspension of the session by Senate President Franklin Drilon despite objections by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Drilon suspended the session after Ople concluded his valedictory.

The President and Cabinet members, led by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, formally welcomed Ople during the Cabinet meeting that followed his oath-taking.

Ople succeeded Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., who resigned July 3 after repeated public and private disagreements with the President, notably on the presence of US troops in the country and the legality of the MLSA.

Mrs. Arroyo, who temporarily replaced Guingona, ceremonially turned over the post to Ople. She appointed him July 23.

Ople recalled that he had seen a "preliminary" draft of the MLSA when he was still chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, a copy of which was furnished by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who crafted the draft MLSA.

He dismissed reports that the MLSA has provisions that will permit the US to regain rights to set up military bases in the country. In 1992, US bases in the country were closed forcing US troops to leave.

Ople said he had not seen the final text of the MLSA, but added the draft that he read when he was still a senator did not contain provision for basing rights. "There is no ground for concern that there will be basing rights, there are no basing rights," he said.

He said Reyes assured him that there will be no basing rights "absolutely."

Ople is expected to be immediately confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.

His assumption of office comes shortly before the arrival Friday of US Secretary of State Colin Powell for an official visit.

Powell is expected to discuss the MLSA with Ople and the President.

Meanwhile, also sworn into office by Mrs. Arroyo were former acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable as full-fledged secretary and head of the Presidential Management Staff; Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, former Quezon City congressman Dante Liban as director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and retired generals Anselmo Avenido Jr. and Efren Fernandez as director general and deputy director general, respectively, of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Also sworn in were Police Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco as chief of the National Capital Region Command Police Office replacing Police Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay. The President gave a three-star rank promotion to Aglipay.

’Work for return of Balangiga bells’

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay asked Ople yesterday to work for the return of the bells of Balangiga, Samar which are displayed at the Fort Warren air force base in Cheyenne, Wyoming as a memorial to the US war veterans.

"More than military and financial aid, the return of the bells of Balangiga would be the best manifestation of the respect and friendship that the US offers to the Philippines," Binay said.

He admitted that returning the bells of Balangiga remains "a sensitive issue," particularly among US war veterans who consider the bells as "a memorial to their fallen comrades."

American troops took the bells to the US after launching a campaign in retaliation for the Balangiga uprising of Sept. 28, 1901. The incident has been described as the worst single defeat of the US military forces in the Philippines.

Ople goes to the Department of Foreign Affairs complex today to hold a teleconference with at least six ambassadors posted overseas and to meet the DFA officers and employees.

He is expected host a function with the diplomatic community in Manila preceding a visit to countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is a "tradition" for the new DFA secretary to go on an ASEAN tour for courtesy calls on the heads of governments of ASEAN member-countries, said Victoriano Lecaros, DFA assistant secretary and spokesman. - With reports from Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy