Militants to Aquino: Ask Obama about 'overstaying US troops'

When he meets US President Barack Obama II next week, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III should ask him to pull out “overstaying" US troops in Mindanao, militants said on Monday. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said Aquino should not miss what it called a rare opportunity to discuss with Obama the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). “At the very least, Mr. Aquino should take up the issue of overstaying US troops in Mindanao. The US Special Forces have been there since 2002 engaged in all sorts of activities that constitute direct combat involvement," said Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Jr., on the Bayan website. "The US troops have permanent facilities in Mindanao. They are no longer visitors but are there on a permanent and continuing basis. This clearly violates the Constitution," Reyes added. Bayan also disclosed it will lead protests on September 16, Thursday, the 19th anniversary of the Philippine Senate’s rejection of the US bases treaty in 1991. Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino, had persuaded the Senate to allow a new US bases treaty. Bayan noted US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in August 2009 announced that some 600 US Special Forces elements will be staying indefinitely in Mindanao. Gates’ announcement drew sharp criticism from opponents of the VFA who said the agreement’s vagueness allowed the US government to use it as a legal cover to stay indefinitely in Mindanao. “It has been more than a year since the unilateral announcement of Secretary Gates that US forces will indefinitely stay in the Philippines. It is high time Mr. Aquino undo the damage done under the Arroyo regime insofar as the VFA and our sovereignty is concerned," Reyes said. Bayan added the VFA is not even a treaty by US standards and violates the 1987 Constitution which states that foreign troops can only stay in the Philippines if a treaty exists. The group said that while the Philippine Senate ratified the VFA as a treaty, the same was not true in the case of the US Senate. It said the pact did not go through the rigorous treaty-ratification process in the US and was only “considered a treaty" by the US government. “The VFA is a reminder of the historically unequal relations between the Philippines and the US. Aquino should think of national interest during the US visit. Now is a good time to review and abrogate the VFA," Reyes said. –VVP, GMANews.TV