Militants want VFA scrapped

MANILA, Philippines—Denouncing what they said was the “detrimental and unequal character” of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, militant groups have again called for the scrapping of the 12-year-old treaty.

The VFA was concluded on May 27, 1999, eight years after the closure of US military bases in the country, ostensibly to govern the conduct of visiting US forces.

Malacañang has said it is “generally happy” with the VFA.

The US Embassy in Manila said the treaty has been “working very well” for both countries.

But ACT party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said that after 12 years, the lopsided character of the treaty has been “completely exposed.”

The VFA “has allowed the permanent basing of US forces in the country in the guise of never-ending training exercises, and American troops engaging in covert military operations on our soil,” Tinio said.

“It has also accorded special treatment for US soldiers who have broken our laws, and prevented us from developing a truly independent national defense capability in accordance with an independent foreign policy,” he said.

Bayan Muna party-list member Neri Colmenares said the VFA was “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), said US troops are “engaged in so many undefined activities in the country in the name of the ‘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”.

President Aquino’s inaction on the VFA “means he is tuta ng Kano” (a US puppet), said Kabataan party-list member Raymond Palatino.

In the past six months, the Presidential Commission on the VFA (PCVFA) has been reviewing the VFA, focusing on criminal jurisdiction and custody of US troops who have violated Philippine laws.

The PCVFA said the review was necessitated after Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago called for the treaty’s abrogation.

Santiago has said the “fatal flaw” of the VFA was its failure to specify the period of stay of the visiting US forces and to define what activities they are allowed to engage in while in the country.

The VFA can be terminated by Congress unilaterally through a joint resolution, said Santiago.

Sen. Loren Legarda, the chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, has been urging Malacañang to speed up the review so the Senate can finally decide on what to do with the treaty.