Sotto to ask SC to rule on VFA

MANILA, Philippines — Although the Duterte administration has already begun talks with the United States over a new Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Senate President Vicente Sotto III, along with other senators, intends to ask the Supreme Court next week to rule on whether the president can abrogate a treaty even without the concurrence of the Senate that ratified it.

“We are merely asserting the power of the Senate which we believe is inherent since any treaty or agreement will not take effect unless we ratify,” Sotto said in a text message, adding that the petition will be filed on Monday after the Senate acts on a resolution expressing the sense that Senate concurrence is needed to abrogate a treaty.

“After the Senate agrees or disagrees on a resolution concerning this revocation power, we will be filing the petition for declaratory relief or mandamus,” he said.

If the resolution is passed, the petition will be filed with the support of the Senate as an institution, but if the resolution fails to muster a majority, Sotto said he would file the petition as a taxpayer.