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Friday, January 05, 2007
Government to reassess military pact with US
MANILA -- A Malacañang official said government is bent on reviewing and amending the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to prevent future controversies like the Subic rape case.
"The government is also resolved to review the VFA and, if warranted, to work with Congress to amend certain provisions thereof in order to prevent future controversies," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
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Bunye, who is also the Presidential spokesman, said the US and Philippine governments have learned a lot from the Subic rape case and that Manila appreciates the US government's move to impose a stricter code of conduct for US troops participating in the Balikatan exercises.
"Both the US and Philippine governments have learned good lessons from this (Subic rape) case and we believe that the friendship between our two countries has grown stronger as we hurdled the issues in the spirit of mutuality. It is now time to move on as we let the wheels of justice take its course," he said.
He said the Philippines learned the importance of preserving its strategic relationship with the US and that in the long term "this agreement would be mutually beneficial, but we have to be sensitive to certain issues."
He said it is up to the appropriate agencies like the VFA Commission and Congress to decide which specific provisions of the VFA should be reviewed and amended.
Bunye clarified that the review is not necessarily an acknowledgment that the agreement is disadvantageous to the Philippines. "It's built in to all agreements that any agreement, whether it's VFA or not, can be reviewed from time to time," he said.
Bunye said the opposition has a right to file a case against the Cabinet officials involved in the implementation of the VFA and in the transfer of rape convict US Marine Daniel Smith to the US Embassy.
Malacañang, however, believes the move to transfer Smith would be vindicated legally, citing the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling declaring the custody issue as moot.
He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's appeal to the public for understanding is enough and that there is no need for her to apologize because the CA decision "vindicates the executive's move to transfer custody of Smith to the US Embassy." (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (January 5, 2007 issue)
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