Under VFA 2, US troops are privileged even in taxation, visa requirements - lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Saturday said that the so-called secret document or the Visiting Forces Agreement 2 shows that aside from jurisdictional issues, American troops were privileged even on issues of taxation and visa requirements. “We have all the legal, political, and moral justification and obligation to terminate this highly lopsided and onerous agreement imposed by the US to the Philippines. The VFA is flooded with inequalities," Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano said. Citing a study made by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) on the VFA 1 and VFA 2, Mariano said the VFA 1 limits Philippine jurisdiction in Art. V (3) where (a) Philippine authorities shall have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over all offenses committed by United States personnel, except in cases provided for in paragraphs 1(b) violates US military law; 2 (b) violates US Security; and, 3 (b) offenses in performance of official duty. “But there’s nothing in VFA 2 that limits US jurisdiction in the Philippines," Mariano said. Mariano said that “even on the issue of taxation, VFA 1 states that ‘reasonable quantities of personal baggage, personal effects, and other property for the personal use of US personnel may be imported into and used in the Philippines free of all duties, taxes and other similar charges during the period of their temporary stay in the Philippines.’" However, Mariano said, under Art. X and XI of VFA II “The acquisition of goods and services in the US market by Philippines personnel for personal purposes shall be subject to applicable United States taxes. The baggage and effects of Republic of the Philippines personnel and articles, including household goods, for the personal and family use may be entered into the United States within six months of first arrival without the payment of duties, internal revenue taxes." “After six months, Filipinos are no longer exempted," he said. Mariano said that under VFA 1 Art. III Sec. 2. United States military personnel shall be exempt from passport and visa regulations upon entering and departing the Philippines. While VFA 2’s Art. IV Sec. 1.(a) states that “the Embassy of the United States of America will issue visas, valid for multiple entries, to Philippine personnel traveling to the US and reserves the right to deny visa." Mariano reiterated calls for the pullout of US troops from Philippine soil and the scrapping of the US-RP VFA which he described as “an onerous and one-sided" agreement between the two countries. “This continued undermining of Philippine sovereignty through the VFA made possible by the Philippine government’s own subservience to American dictates must be stopped," Mariano said. - GMANews.TV