RP no better, no safer 10 years after VFA – Bayan

MANILA, Philippines - Ten years after the Philippine Senate ratified it, the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) has not made the country any better or safer place, militants said Wednesday. Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) made the assessment before staging a protest march in Manila to mark the 10th anniversary of the VFA. “Ten years after the VFA was ratified, the Philippines is no better nor safer. What has happened is that our sovereignty has been constantly undermined by the permanent presence of foreign troops. What happened were cases of rape, human rights abuses and even corruption," said Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., in an article on the Bayan Web site. Bayan’s staged the protest action against the VFA Wednesday, three days before a reported visit of United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the Philippines. Protesters were to march in the afternoon from Plaza Salamanca on Kalaw and Taft Ave. toward the Rajah Sulayman Plaza along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Some 50 protesters were to wear hospital masks with the words “VFA kills" and “Junk VFA" inscribed on them. Before marching, protesters were to burn a huge American flag to protest US intervention in the Philippines. “The Arroyo regime has shown its utter subservience to US interests when it caused the acquittal of a previously convicted US soldier. Arroyo is now hoping to reap the rewards of her subservience when she meets with US Defense secretary Robert Gates on May 31. She’s banking on increased military aid for her repressive regime," Reyes added. Bayan slammed the US government for imposing its political and military interests in the country. It said that the VFA has benefited the US immensely because it has allowed American troops to be stationed in the Philippines even without a bases treaty ratified by the Philippine Senate. “Ten years of the VFA has shown us that it’s as if the US bases never left. The US troops are here 24/7, 365 days a year, through various pretexts and activities. So far the Philippine and US government have failed to justify this continuing permanent presence of foreign troops that is already beyond the parameters of the VFA. These US troops are no longer visitors, judging from the length of their stay," Reyes said. Bayan cited the case of the Joint Special Task Force Philippines based in Camp Navarro in Zamboanga which hosts a rotating batch of US troops of around 200-300 soldiers who are ever present in the province. The group also slammed the refusal of US soldiers to be subjected to health inspections by Philippine health officials when they enter the country. This concern was raised in the wake of efforts to detect and contain the dreaded A(H1N1) virus. The Department of Health’s Bureau of Quarantine has complained that they are not allowed to conduct quarantine inspections and thermal scans on US forces. Under the VFA, it is the US commander who issues a health status for the US soldiers. In 1999, only five senators voted against the VFA. They are Teofisto Guingona Jr., Sergio Osmena III, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Loren Legarda and the late Raul Roco. Guingona and Osmena sent a solidarity message to the protesters, Bayan said. The group quoted the two leaders as saying, “On the 10th anniversary of the VFA, we reaffirm our adherence to national sovereignty, genuine independence and human rights. We call on the Senate to revisit the VFA and for the Philippine government to exercises its right to terminate this agreement."