Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas on Tuesday expressed concern over the supposed modifications to the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, which the Department of Foreign Affairs denied being made.
Brosas raised the matter during budget deliberations on the DFA.
The department was seeking P21.051 billion for its Office of the Secretary and other attached agencies.
The amount was equivalent to only 0.42% of the proposed P5.024 trillion national budget for fiscal year 2022.
While, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. admitted that there was a technical agreement that came with the old VFA, he said that this merely clarified mutually agreed procedures for the handling of criminal jurisdiction in case of incidents involving US servicemen.
The technical agreement took effect last August 16.
Still, Brosas maintained that this should be scrutinized.
“This is a serious matter considering that the technical agreement also includes changes in terms of confinement of erring US military personnel. We need to scrutinize these modifications as it might lead to more cases of violence against women and LGBTQ+ perpetrated by US soldiers,” Brosas said.
“Kung may binago po kasi dito, maaaring i-subject po ito dapat sa ratification kung may binago,” she added. “Hindi po puwedeng baguhin ‘yung agreement, kailangang i-ratify ito if ever.”
(If something was changed in the agreement, this could be subject to ratification. You can’t just change the agreement, it has to be ratified.)
Pressed if changes were made in the “old” VFA, Locsin insisted that it was not at all modified.
“There is no new VFA so we will give you the old copy, just the way it is. There is a technical agreement attached to it, which I explained, this technical agreement, together with the old and restored, will be provided to you,” Locsin said.
Locsin said the technical agreement would only ensure mutual respect in the enforcement of the VFA.
President Rodrigo Duterte retracted the termination of the VFA last July.
The VFA is an implementation of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty forged by the US and the Philippines as security partners after World War II. It is a framework agreement that covers the treatment and presence of American forces in the country with or without war games.
It was abrogated after the US, a long-time Philippine defense and treaty ally, revoked the visa of Duterte’s close ally, former police chief now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa. — DVM, GMA News
Gabriela solon concerned over technical agreement accompanying VFA
Source: Pinoy Hub News
0 Comments