DFA belies claims over 'secret' paper in VFA

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) belied Friday an alleged one-sided, secret document supposedly complementing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that allows the detention of an American soldier in a US facility. DFA spokesman Bayani Mangibin said such an agreement as claimed by Senator Joker Arroyo would be "useless" because only the supposed signatories know about it. "Maski 10 agreement na secret ang gagawin mo, ang importante riyan ma-implement ba kung sakaling may ganyan? Alam natin na pag isang agreement ay sikreto, dalawang tao lang magkakaroon ng epekto. Kung isasama mo ang ibang branch of government like ang Korte Suprema, di mababawi yan kasi sikreto," Mangibin said in an interview on dzXL radio. [Even if you sign 10 secret agreements, the bottom line is, can it be implemented? If an agreement is negotiated in secret, only two parties know of it. Once you question it before a third party like the Supreme Court you cannot support it because it was secret.] Senator Arroyo confirmed Friday morning in an interview on dzBB that indeed a secret document on the treatment of US soldiers visiting the Philippines exists. "Akala natin yung Visiting Forces Agreement yun lang. Yun pala merong ibang agreement, ito ang title... [We thought it was just the Visiting Forces Agreement. Apparently there is also another agreement, this is the title]: Agreement between the Government of the United States of American and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines regarding the treatment of Republic of the Philippines personnel visiting the United States of America," Arroyo said. He said that under Section 9 of the "complementary agreement," Filipino military personnel convicted by US courts will be detained in US penal institutions. Arroyo said the only "consolation" is that the Philippine government can negotiate for the location of the prison where the Filipino personnel will be detained. "Binibigyan lang tayo ng konting konsuelo, pwedeng pag-usapan kung saan dadalhin, kung saang preso [It's giving us a small consolation, in that we can negotiate for the location of the prison]," Arroyo said. Meanwhile, Mangibin was firm in saying that no matter how many secret agreements the government enters into, the same may end up being declared unconstitutional. He said this was what happened to the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He said the high court thumbed down the MOA-AD in August 2008 "dahil sikreto siya [because it was negotiated in secret]." On Thursday, Sen. Arroyo claimed a secret VFA agreement signed by then DFA secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. and then US envoy Thomas Hubbard allowed the detention of a visiting Filipino soldier in US penal institutions. This followed the Supreme Court's order to DFA secretary Alberto Romulo to renegotiate a deal with the US government for the detention of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith. Smith, who a Makati court convicted for raping a Filipino woman in 2005, was sent to the Makati City jail but an agreement between Romulo and US envoy Kristie Ann Kenney allowed him to be transferred to the US Embassy in Manila. Mangibin said that in Smith's case, the VFA's Article 5 Section 6 on custody during trial and Article 5 Section 10 on detention after conviction were cited. He said they are verifying whether such an agreement exists, but an initial check failed to turn up anything. He also declined to say if Siazon, now Philippine ambassador to Japan, will be summoned to Manila for an explanation. "We'll see kung ano. Ano ang ipapaliwanag ni (Sec.) Siazon, kung wala naman yan [We'll see if it exists first. But what will he explain if the document does not exist at all]?" he said. - with a report from Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV