Militant legislators want the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) scrapped 12 years after the treaty with the US was signed.
Here are some of their comments against the VFA:
ACT party-list Representative Antonio Tinio: The VFA “has allowed the permanent basing of US forces in the country in the guise of never-ending exercises, and American troops engaging in covert military operations in our soil.”
Bayan Muna party-list Representative Neri Colmenares: The VFA is “an affront to our sovereignty and has caused immeasurable damage to the Filipino people … We are now magnets for attacks by the enemies of the US.”
Renato Reyes Jr., secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan): US troops are “engaged in so many undefined activities in the country in the name of ‘war on terror.’ We will not be surprised that they have engaged in actual combat operations similar to what they did in the raid against Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.”
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Militants denounce the supposed “unequal character” of the VFA in favor of the US.
But haven’t they looked into how much the country has benefited from the VFA in terms of helping secure peace in Mindanao, particularly in Sulu and Basilan?
Many leaders of the Abu Sayyaf have been killed or caught because of US satellites and the huge reward money put up by the American government.
So much knowledge in the art of guerrilla warfare has been learned by Filipino soldiers from elite US Army Special Forces and US Navy Seals who take part in joint war exercises.
So many sophisticated arms and equipment are handed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines by US troops when they return to their country after a stint here.
It’s not as much, but American soldiers on assignment here for the VFA spend dollars which go to the economy.
Regarding the argument that the country has become a “magnet for attacks by the enemies of the US,” it’s the other way around.
The international terror network al-Qaeda trained some of its members in the Philippines to undertake sabotage operations on US soil.
The US government recently reassured our government that it would come to our aid if another country attacked us.
The reassurance was made in the wake of our confrontation with China over the Spratlys.
Let’s not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.