Gov't urged to release VFA review results before May 27

Militants urged the Philippine government on Saturday to release the results of its review of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement before May 27, the 12th year of the pact's implementation. Umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) particularly addressed its call to the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Department of Justice. “The Palace's review of the VFA is the first in the 12 years that the VFA has been in effect. The review should lead to the termination of the military pact, which is a violation of our sovereignty. We can definitely live without this one-sided agreement," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said on the group's website. “It’s time this government assert national sovereignty and national interest and discard the myth of ‘special relations’, mutuality and reciprocity under the VFA. We must remember that under the VFA 2 counterpart-agreement, Filipino troops do not get any of the benefits and privileges enjoyed the US troops in the Philippines," he added. Bayan noted the VFA was ratified as a treaty by the Philippine Senate on May 27, 1999 – despite its not being ratified by the US Senate. Reyes contested the US Embassy's claims there are no problems with the VFA. "[the claim] is farthest from the truth. There is an ongoing Palace review focused on criminal jurisdiction and custody of US troops who have violated Philippine laws. There are calls for the expulsion of the overstaying US troops in Zamboanga. There have been questions on why a nuclear-powered warship was allowed entry into the country's waters despite the nuke-free provisions of the PHL Constitution," he said. Bayan has repeatedly questioned the indefinite presence of US Special Forces from the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines who have been based in Zamboanga since 2002. It said the long presence of some US soldiers already goes against the definition of “visiting" troops. The VFA was also embroiled in controversy after the US government refused to have then convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith placed in a Philippine detention facility and had him transferred to the US Embassy. “The US embassy has become a factory of lies for the retention of the VFA. It cannot find comfort in the Supreme Court decision that the VFA is constitutional. That the ruling will not stand the test of time and will become untenable as new problems related to the VFA arise each year," Reyes said. “US troops are engaged in so many undefined activities in the country, especially in the name of the ‘war on terror’. We will not be surprised that US forces have engaged in actual combat operations similar to what they did in the raid against bin Laden in Pakistan. We would not be surprised if they operate secrete prisons or rendition facilities in the country, under cover of so-called counter-terror training," he added. Bayan's statement came shortly after Malacañang announced that it is "generally happy" with the VFA, despite an ongoing review. In an interview on government radio on Saturday, presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said: “We can say at this point we’re generally happy with the VFA. Importante yan sa defense natin. Alam natin ang long-standing relationship natin with the US." — LBG, GMA News