Palace: No need for Senate approval for increased presence of US troops in PHL

(Updated 11:37 p.m.) The Senate does not need to approve the proposal for increased presence of American troops in the Philippines, a Palace official said Monday.

 

Quoting officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said congressional approval is no longer necessary since the framework for the temporary presence of the US forces in the country "will be done within the framework of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)."

 

"There is no need for Senate ratification. However, for purposes of transparency the panel will be briefing congressional leaders on the status of the negotiations," Lacierda said.

 

At a press conference earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin announced that negotiations between the Philippines and US governments on a larger presence of American troops in the country will start this week. 

 

The 1987 Constitution states that "foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate."

 

In 1991, the Philippine Senate voted to expel US military bases from the country by a historic 12-11 vote. Eight years later, the Senate ratified the VFA between the US and the Philippines.

 

The VFA is a bilateral agreement which specifies how the Philippines and the US will determine jurisdiction of an American soldier involved in a crime committed on Philippine soil. 

 

Senate President Franklin Drilon, for his part, meanwhile said that his chamber will definitely call the attention of the executive department if the framework agreement becomes a basing deal. 

 

"If it is a basing agreement, we will call them [executive officials] to task. They know the boundaries of the Constitution. When working on this framework agreement, they should consider these boundaries," Drilon said in a separate interview. 'Big deal out of nothing' Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, for his part, expressed fears that the "hype" being given the proposed rotational presence of US troops in the country may further sour the Philippines' ties with China. "We are making a big deal out of nothing kasi, in my opinion, yung increased rotational presence is within the bounds of VFA," Trillanes said at a separate press briefing. He added that the increased presence of US troops in the Philippines should be viewed as a purely "defense matter" and "not a foreign relations matter." "Itong si [DFA] Secretary Del Rosario, he is drawing attention to himself. I don’t know why. Ang sa akin dito, lets say mag-increase ng rotational presence, yan ay dapat hindi nakakabit sa anumang national security crisis," Trillanes said. "Dapat yan ay completely within the context of training and upgrading the military capabilities." The senator also advised Del Rosario not to be such a "war freak" and put the increased military presence in the Philippines in the context of the country's territorial dispute with China. The Philippines and China have locked horns over disputed parts of the South China Sea, which the former calls the West Philippine Sea. — KG/DVM, GMA News