Senators on Thursday warned against the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, saying national security should be the primary consideration.
The Senate held an inquiry on the VFA, the 1998 status of forces agreement that allowed American troops to hold regular training and exercises, which President Rodrigo Duterte ordered terminated after the US did not renew the visa of a close ally, Sen. Ronald de la Rosa, the former police chief who led the bloody war on drugs.
“Is it a national interest to abolish the VFA at this point in time?” Sen. Richard Gordon asked.
Gordon underscored the importance of the VFA and said the military would be “all air and no force, and all coast and no guard” if the agreement were abolished.
“The people must know that our military has been bereft–leaving us dependent on our relationships with other countries. Strengthen the military, enrich the country. We have to look at the interest of our nation,” he said.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said: “This is not the time to do a Pelosi and rip up the VFA,” referring to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who ripped apart her copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address.
“A VFA-exit could come later, in a manner that is not rushed, but planned and programmed, and not out of pique. Certainly not this time when an intruder has built and continues to build what have become the bases of our insecurity right under our belly,” he said.
“If we abrogate the VFA, this sharp contrast will not escape our people’s attention: On how we could let the red carpet stay for someone who has taken our land while booting the one who has been on our side in protesting such occupation,” he added.
“The VFA is far from a perfect agreement. It has kinks to our disadvantage too many to count. But these flaws are compensated, in part, by the help we get from the United States in times of natural disasters, of which we are one of the world’s most prone.”
Sen. Grace Poe insisted on the Senate’s constitutional mandate and power to review treaties entered into by the government.
Poe said the VFA should be assessed “based on its own merit and beyond political noise.”
“Sa loob ng mahigit dalawang dekada ng VFA, nakabuti ba sa atin ito [In the two decades of the VFA, did we benefit from it]?” Poe asked.
“If we are to withdraw from any bilateral agreement, let it be with basis. If we are to concur in any executive action, let it be ultimately for the interest of the people,” she said. (PressONE.ph)