SANTIAGO

Malacañang was urged on Wednesday to renegotiate or terminate the 10-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) of the Philippine government and the United States and its counterpart treaty which was not submitted to the Senate for ratification and which the Philippine government hardly know about.

Senator Miriam Santiago, chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA, in a privilege speech cited that one of the main reasons why it should be abrogated is due to violation of the Philippine Constitution.

Santiago said the United States, as the other contracting state, should have recognized the VFA as a treaty and not as a mere executive agreement.

The VFA, she said, is also void for vagueness because it fails to define crucial terms “visit,” “temporary,” and “activities” stated in the treaty.

Santiago also said the Supreme Court in the 2009 case of Nicolas vs Romulo suffers from doctrinal confusion.

American military forces, she said, merely constitute so-called forward operating bases, since it could no longer establish military bases in the country.

“Only the preamble, not the text, of the VFA mentions the ancient Mutual Defense Treaty, which does not even provide for automatic US help in case of actual attack on the Philippines,” Santiago also pointed out.

The alleged financial benefits under the VFA, according to the senator, constitute US military junk and failed to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“The VFA is a failure, because after ten years, the AFP has not modernized sufficiently to keep up with our Asian neighbors and the terrorist groups are still active,” she said.

“We have tried the VFA for ten years and found it wanting. It is not for this Senate to determine the life expectancy of the VFA. That power belongs to the Philippine president. Therefore, at the very least, this Senate should ask the executive branch of government either to renegotiate or to terminate the VFA,” she said.

Santiago also stressed that the supposed benefits the country would gain from entering into a military treaty with the US is only “illusory.”