NO U.S. OBJECTIONS TO REVIEW VFA
MANILA, NOVEMBER 1, 2010 (STAR) The US government has no objections to a Philippine review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), according to Washington's top diplomat in Manila.
But once the Philippine government "comes to an opinion" on the VFA or some of its provisions, "we need to be consulted," US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. told The STAR last Friday night.
"The review and the comments point to the vitality of Philippine democracy. We have no objections to a review," Thomas said even as he stressed the importance of the VFA to bilateral cooperation.
The US embassy has not been notified by the Philippine government of any review, Thomas said.
Some 3,000 US troops are currently in Luzon for joint military exercises with a special focus on counterterrorism. Hundreds of US troops, mostly members of the Special Forces, are also posted in Zamboanga City, providing training and assistance in intelligence gathering to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against al-Qaeda-linked militants operating in Sulu, Basilan and other conflict areas in the south.
President Aquino has ordered a study of the VFA to determine which provisions need to be reviewed or amended. Some lawmakers want the VFA abrogated.
In an executive order dated Oct. 1, the President reorganized the Presidential Commission on the VFA and appointed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa as its chairman. Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin are co-chairmen.
Appointed as members of the commission were the secretaries of justice and social welfare as well as the executive director of the commission. A private sector representative will be appointed by the President.
The VFA was ratified by the Senate in 1999 during the administration of Joseph Estrada. It defines the treatment of US forces visiting the Philippines.
It served as the framework for the return of US troops to the Philippines in 2002, a decade after the shutdown of their bases here, at the height of a kidnapping spree by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
The VFA has not been ratified by the US Congress. US officials have explained that the VFA is patterned after similar agreements that the United States has with several other countries. Such accords are considered by Washington as executive agreements that do not require the nod of their legislature.
This point has been raised by VFA critics in the Philippines, who say the lack of reciprocal congressional ratification makes the agreement invalid and a ground for its abrogation.
Criticism of the VFA also intensified in the wake of the rape case against US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who was turned over by Manila to the custody of the US embassy during his trial.
Palace officials have said VFA provisions on jurisdiction over US soldiers facing criminal indictments in the Philippines need to be clarified.
Thomas said the VFA has allowed his government to respond quickly to Philippine requests for military assistance, such as for disaster mitigation during typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng" and, recently, "Juan."
He emphasized that the Philippines is the largest recipient of US military assistance in Asia.
Thomas' predecessor Kristie Kenney, who was ambassador throughout the trial of Smith, had said the VFA was working fine and needed no amendment.
Smith was convicted by a lower court but cleared by an all-woman panel in the Court of Appeals. He stayed in US custody while his appeal was pending.
His victim, called "Nicole" in media reports, left for the United States shortly before his acquittal and reportedly settled there with an American boyfriend.
Before her departure, Nicole issued a statement saying she was no longer sure if Smith had indeed raped her after a night of drinking in Subic, where the Marine corporal was on shore leave from joint military exercises.
Smith had argued that the sex in the back of a moving van was consensual.
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