Miriam set to file VFA resolution

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is ready to sponsor a resolution this week seeking a renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

“I’m ready. On Tuesday, I will circulate it for signatures in the Senate panel. Kokonti lang naman kami (There are only a few of us). Then I will already make a sponsorship speech for the resolution entitled ‘resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the secretary of foreign affairs should seek to renegotiate the VFA with the US. And in case of denial, should give notice of termination,’ ” Santiago said over dzBB radio.

She said she is expecting to get an approval before the plenary on the resolution, despite some doubts whether she will get full support from her colleagues.

“At the Senate panel, I don’t doubt that I will get the required number of signatures. At the plenary, I think it will still pass because we are not calling for outright termination of the VFA but for renegotiation. This is what (members of) the House of Representatives want, if they don’t want to renegotiate, we don’t have a choice but to terminate it,” Santiago said.

She said the Philippines can notify the United States if it decides finally to stop the VFA.

Although it has the duty to ratify treaties, the Senate cannot terminate the VFA all by itself.

Santiago explained that the Department of Foreign Affairs must forward the request to the US embassy for a review of the VFA.

“Ang secretary of foreign affairs ay maghingi sa American embassy na pagusapan muli ang VFA dahil mukhang napakabigat muli ang tanong kung sila ba’y engaged in combat operations (The secretary of foreign affairs must request the American embassy to talk about the VFA because the question is so heavy – whether they are engaged in combat operations).”

She said if troops are just exchanging fire and training soldiers, “why does it take so long that it’s already 10 years?”

Last week, Santiago, chairperson for the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA, said the government must end and renegotiate a new security deal with the United States because the current treaty violates the country’s Constitution.

“If the US wants to use the Philippine territory in its alleged war on terror, they will have to negotiate a treaty with the Philippines,” Santiago said in a statement.

“In the meantime, in my humble view, the presence of US troops in Mindanao, and even worse, their participation in combat operations, are illegal.”

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Philippine government is rejecting calls by lawmakers to abrogate the treaty.

Ermita said the US has poured an average of P2 billion in security, economic, and humanitarian aid to the Philippines since 2000 when relations were strengthened by the military-to-military pact. — Christina Mendez