Palace welcomes VFA review

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang welcomed yesterday the Senate’s move to review and renegotiate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the Palace is willing to work with senators on the issue, noting that they would know what is in the best interest of the country.

Fajardo said the Presidential Commission on the VFA, as the representative of the executive branch, has been directed to work with the Senators and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the matter of reviewing the treaty. “We are open and we welcome the move of the Senate on the VFA issue,” she said.

However, Fajardo appealed to the Senate to also consider the positive aspects of the VFA, particularly the benefits derived by the country from the treaty, and not just the flaws.

“We just have to remind our senators not to set aside all the benefits, the gains that we are getting from this agreement, especially in terms of security,” she said.

Seven senators, led by committee on foreign relations chair Miriam Defensor-Santiago, have signed a resolution asking the DFA to renegotiate the VFA because of the flaws in the deal.

According to the senators, the “fatal flaw of the VFA is the failure to specify the period of stay of visiting forces, and the failure to define what ‘activities’ they can engage in while in Philippine national territory.”

Apart from Santiago, the other senators who signed the resolution are Joker Arroyo, Richard Gordon, Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan.

The government has been under pressure to review the VFA for some time now because of several incidents, including the case of American serviceman Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who was convicted of raping a Filipina but was never turned over to Philippine authorities for detention.

The inability of the government to secure Smith from the U.S. authorities drew strong criticism against the VFA and renewed calls for its abrogation.

The VFA is part of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S., which has been the basis for decades of American military assistance and support.