Analysis: The VFA

(Following is the transcript of the segment "Analysis by Winnie Monsod" which aired on News on Q on Feb. 23, 2009. Prof. Winnie Monsod is the resident analyst of News on Q, which airs weeknights at 9:30 p.m. on Q Channel 11.) The Daniel Smith case has been again in the news, with the Supreme Court declaring that the detention of Smith in the US Embassy grounds is not in accordance with the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), particularly Article V Paragraph 10, which states that "The confinement or detention by Philippine authorities of United States personnel shall be carried out in facilities agreed on by appropriate Philippine and US authorities. US personnel serving sentences in the Philippines shall have the right to visits and material assistance." The Supreme Court then ordered the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to "negotiate" with the US representatives for the appropriate agreement on detention facilities. And therein lies the problem. How long will it take to "negotiate"? No one seems to know. And what is more, it seems, the SC has kind of given its implicit acceptance that the US can take a long time to even come to the negotiating table, because the SC has ordered that pending the appropriate agreement, the status quo shall be maintained until further orders by the Court. In other words, IT'S AN EMPTY VICTORY. Which should be a thorn in the side of any self-respecting government. Let's go down memory lane, to a little over two years ago. Daniel Smith was found guilty of rape, and accordingly, following Philippine law and the VFA, was ordered by RTC Judge Pozon to be confined in the Makati City Jail or MCJ until such time as the US and Philippine authorities agreed on which Philippine facility his confinement would be served in. What happened was the US, represented by Ambassador Kristie Kenney, and the Philippines, represented by Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, agreed that Smith was to be confined within the US Embassy - which is obviously not a Philippine facility, and in which Smith would obviously not be under Philippine authorities. What also happened was that the Department of the Interior and Local Government, working under cover of night, removed Smith from the MCJ and delivered him to the US Embassy. So let us face it: in the same way that our own Executive department completely ignored the authority and orders of the Regional Trial Court, as well as the Court of Appeals, and spirited Smith to the American Embassy, our executives will ignore the authority and the wimpy orders of the Supreme Court - and take its time supposedly negotiating with the US authorities. So the question is: why did the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, the President, treat our judiciary with such contempt, and acquiesce to the wishes of the United States? Well, according to the President, and I quote her, "This difficult decision was made and taken with only the best interest of the Philippines in mind." And this is where we differ. Since when is ignoring the lawful orders of Philippine courts and making a mockery of our justice system in the best interest of the Philippines? Since when is making the Rule of Law subservient to the arbitrary wishes of the United States in the best interests of the Philippines? A similar case also involving a US soldier occurred in South Korea. In our case, the commander of Smith's ship attempted to sail out of Subic with Smith on board - and would have succeeded had not our own Subic authorities surrounded the ship and prevented it from leaving until Smith and his companions were turned over to the local authorities. In the Korean case, the military commander involved not only turned over voluntarily the erring soldier to the Korean authorities, but apologized for his behavior. Until we treat ourselves with dignity, we cannot expect others to treat us with dignity. Let's leave ourselves a little self-respect! As for the Visiting Forces Agreement, certainly, the Philippines benefits from the agreement in the sense that our counterterrorism efforts and competence are being enhanced by the US visiting forces. But again, that must be balanced against the following costs: First, the forces that are here seem no longer to be visiting but are permanent fixtures in the Philippines, and have even built permanent structures for themselves. And second, the terms of the VFA are obviously not only one-sided, but even when they are in our favor, we cannot depend on the Philippine authorities to use them to our benefit. Bottom line: The VFA has been abused, and the costs to our dignity and our self-respect far outweigh the benefits of the agreement. Therefore, the only rational decision we can make is to give notice that we desire to terminate the agreement, which will occur 180 days from the date that we give that notice. I am willing to bet that the US will change its tune so fast, once they realize that we are serious.