SC orders Palace, DFA to answer senators' petition over VFA withdrawal

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Duterte administration to answer senators' petition asserting the role of the Senate in treaty withdrawals.

In its Tuesday en banc session, the court gave Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. 10 days to comment on the petition, SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said Wednesday.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Ralph Recto, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Franklin Drilon, Richard Gordon, and Panfilo Lacson asked the SC in March to declare that a treaty previously concurred in by the Senate should require the concurrence of at least 2/3 of the Senate when withdrawn.

They filed the petition almost a month after Manila notified the United States of its intention to end the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which governs the conditions under which American soldiers may be present in the Philippines.

The termination was to take effect 180 days after the US received the notice, but Locsin announced Tuesday evening that the Philippines had informed the US it was suspending the termination for six months, citing "political and other developments in the region."

Locsin said Wednesday that the Philippines will continue its “strong military partnership” with the US.

In their petition, the senators asked the SC to order the respondents to refer to the Senate the notice of VFA withdrawal for their concurrence, citing Section 21, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.

This provision states that treaties or international agreements are valid and effective when concurred in by at least 2/3 of the Senate.

In the case involving the Philippines' withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), government lawyers argued that the Constitution is silent on the need for the Senate's approval in withdrawing from treaties.

The SC has yet to rule on the ICC case.

The Duterte administration filed its notice of withdrawal from the ICC in 2018, shortly after the ICC's prosecutor launched a preliminary examination of allegations of extrajudicial killings against the president in connection with the war on drugs.

The withdrawal, which took effect the following year, did not stop the preliminary examination. -NB, GMA News