Due to the urgency of the issue whether to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo disclosed that he is set to meet this week with the foreign affair chairs of both the Senate and the Lower House to discuss what steps the government should take with regards to this matter.

"I'm meeting this week with Senate foreign relations Senator Loren Legarda and the chairman of foreign relations in the House, Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara to discuss the matter," Romulo told reporters at the sidelines of the event honoring the Filipino women ambassadors at the DFA Main Building last Monday night.

Romulo's statement came after Senator Miriam Defensor filed last week a joint resolution asking both houses of Congress to terminate the VFA because it is supposedly not a valid treaty recognized by the United States.

The VFA is a bilateral agreement between the two countries that took effect on May 27, 1999 upon ratification by the Philippine Senate. The agreement allows the US government to retain jurisdiction over its military personnel accused of committing crimes in the Philippines, unless the crimes are of "particular importance" to the Philippines.

Santiago pointed out that the US does not recognize the VFA as a treaty because its Congress has never ratified the agreement, which the Philippine Senate ratified in 1999.

She said the US President merely "transmitted" to the US Congress the VFA and all other executive agreement.