Tuesday, January 16, 2007 Treaties signed during Asean summit need Senate's nod: senator
SENATOR Rodolfo Biazon on Monday said treaties signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will require the ratification of the Senate before they could be enforced and considered binding.
In his capacity as vice chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, Biazon said he sent a letter request on Monday to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to furnish the Senate copies of the treaties to be reviewed and studied.
Biazon cited Article VII Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution which states that: "No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred by at least two thirds of the members of Senate."
"The spirit of the above constitutional provision requiring the ratification by the Senate of all treaties or international agreements is the possibility of a need to change existing policies or laws and the potential effect to our national politics," Biazon said.
Biazon cited the case of the long deliberations on the World Trade Organization-General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (WTO-Gatt) that had been sponsored by President Arroyo during the 9th Congress of the Senate. "We had to change some of our laws like our anti-smuggling law and other economic legislation," he said.
"Relative to the 12th Asean's collective concern on an anti-terror campaign, they claimed that they intended to hasten prosecution. Does this mean that we are about to embrace the policies of the US such as what is being adopted in Guantanamo Bay where they changed the standards of the evaluation of the pieces of evidence?" asked Biazon.
"The general principle in the evaluation of the pieces of evidence presented in court is guilt must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. In Guantanamo, they depend on mere preponderance of evidence," he added...
"Are we going to treat international terrorists different from domestic terrorists? I also foresee other related anti-terrorism topics such as wire-tapping, the opening of bank accounts which needs to be clarified and discussed at the Senate," Biazon asked also
Biazon said in some countries, ratification by their respective legislatures of international treaties and agreements is no longer required so long as they adhere to international laws.
"But our Philippine laws are clear on the necessity of Senate ratification. It doesn't mean that although the agreements were signed in Cebu by our President, we are bound to it. The Department of Foreign Affairs should provide the Senate copies of the agreements for closer examination by the legislature," Biazon concluded. (CPB/Sunnex)
