Tolentino: The President is ‘main architect’ of PH foreign policy

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Tolentino on Thursday said the other branches of government should not meddle with the powers of the President over the country’s foreign policy.

Tolentino issued the sentiment after he was asked if he would be supportive of a Senate resolution filed by Senator Franklin Drilon calling on the Senate to assert its role in the country’s termination or withdrawal from a treaty.

“I always link it to the general principle that the Chief Executive, the President is the main architect of our foreign policy, hindi dapat pakialaman ng ibang branches of government,” Tolentino told reporters in an interview.

He explained that under the Constitution, the concurrence of the Senate is only needed before the Philippines could enter into treaties or international agreements.

“There is no provision (that) when we abrogate, when we cut off our treaty relations, (it needs) the concurrence of the Senate,” he said.

The senator said that Drilon’s call would result in a “different policy.”

“We might need to amend some fundamental laws kung ganon. Yung pagpasok sa tratado, dun lang kailangan ng consent ng Senado. Yung pag-alis sa tratado, hindi kailangan yung consent ng Senado,” Tolentino added.

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to terminate the VFA if the U.S. government fails to rectify the cancelation of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s visa.

Dela Rosa said no reason was given to him by the U.S. Embassy in Manila as to why his U.S. visa was revoked. However, he surmised this might have been because of his role in the administration’s bloody war on drugs, which he had led as then chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Senate foreign relations committee, where Tolentino is a vice-chair of, is set to review the VFA and other military pacts between the Philippines and the United States next week.

Edited by MUF