MANILA, Philippines -- A surprise visit by the head of the presidential commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACom) to the US embassy in Manila Thursday afternoon confirmed the detention there of convicted American rapist Daniel Smith, lawmakers said.

VFACom head Edilberto Adan paid the surprise visit on orders of the legislative oversight committee on the VFA, before which he testified earlier in the day during a hearing at the Senate to look into allegations American troops have been involved in combat in Mindanao, in violation of both the military pact and the Constitution.

?Tapos na [surprise visit]. Galing na sya [Adan] dun [embassy] ngayon. Me litrato pa nga si Smith na may hawak ng bagong dyaryo ngayon. Ipapa-publish daw ni Adan yung picture na yun [It?s over. Adan has just come from there. He even has a picture of Smith holding today?s newspaper. Adan said he would publish the picture]],? Cuenco, the committee co-chairman, said in a phone interview.

?Maputla daw si Smith, wala raw kasing pumapasok na araw sa embassy [He said Smith was pale because no sun enters the embassy],? he added.

Smith was convicted in 2006 of raping a Filipina at the Subic Bay Freeport in November 2005. However, invoking the VFA, whisked him from the Makati City jail where he had been ordered detained by the court that found him guilty and handed him over to the US embassy.

Recently, a lawyer of petitioners asking the Supreme Court to declare the VFA unconstitutional claimed to have received information that Smith was no longer detained at the embassy but somewhere in Quezon City.

Adan?s surprise visit stemmed from questioning by Senator Rodolfo Biazon about whether Smith was still in the country or not.

The VFACom chief said the Department of Interior and Local Government had visited the embassy last week and confirmed that Smith is still there. ?I just checked last week and he?s [Smith] there,? Adan told the committee.

But Biazon said the government, including the legislature, suffered a credibility problem that made it difficult to accept any official statement at face value.

?You know our problem is the credibility of government officials, including us,? Biazon noted. ?As a matter of fact, that?s a problem. A simple statement from anyone, who stands to be scrutinized on the falsity or truth of that statement will have to prove what he?s saying.?

Committee co-chair Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago then suggested that a picture of Smith holding the latest newspaper be taken.

Cuenco proposed that oversight committee member, Ilocos Norte Representative Roque Ablan, pay the surprise visit on the embassy immediately because ?we don?t want to give them [embassy] time to prepare.?

But Cuenco said they eventually decided to send Adan because the lawmakers had to attend budget hearings at the House.