The Senate foreign relations committee, chaired by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, will start Thursday next week its review of the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States and other defense pacts.
The review came up after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to abrogate the VFA following the cancellation of the US visa of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
In an interview, Pimentel said it was the sentiments of those who attended Wednesday’s foreign relations committee that it conduct a formal hearing on the VFA or matters related to it specially in relation to the latest pronouncement of the President that he is possibly terminating it after 30 days.
Aside from the VFA, he said the review will also tackle the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, both with the US, and a visiting forces pact with Australia.
“We will review the VFA, it was also written in the agreement its periodic review and then there’s a theory that VFA is an implementation of the MDT so it will be included. Since EDCA is an adjunct of MDT, let us include it,” Pimentel said.
He said they want to know the material, intelligence, logistical benefits the Philippines receives from VFA, its status, how it is being implemented, the timeline, what is the structure and protocol, problems and violations of the law committed, and the national interests at stake.
The VFA governs the conduct of US soldiers stationed in the Philippines, while the MDT ensures that Washington and Manila will come to the aid of the other should one of the parties is under attack.
The EDCA, an executive agreement, allows greater rotational presence of American troops in the Philippines.
“It’s a review… Not just to see the monetary, physical benefits but also the intellectual, defense and other benefits we have been getting,” said Pimentel.
“We want to see if it is still aligned with national interest,” added Pimentel while noting that the review does not intend to cancel the deals.
He said his colleagues in the Senate also want to know if there have been problems in the implementation of the agreements and how these issues were handle it.
“We will discuss what paragraphs are vague, are there efforts to clarify the paragraphs? We might introduce amendments to clarify ambiguities, but of course with the consent of the other party,” he said.
“This will be open-ended. I can’t say yet what our limits would be. It will be presented as the Senate’s sentiments,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel said that after the Thursday hearing. a committee report will be submitted to the plenary for deliberations.
“We will have plenary debates on the discussion over the report. If the direction of the plenary is to submit a copy of the report to the executive department for their guidance gagawin namin,” he said.
According to Pimentel, he expects to give the Senate report to Malacanang before March.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon pushed for the passage of a resolution that will assert the role of the Senate in treaty termination or withdrawal, saying that any treaty and international agreement should only be valid and effective upon concurrence of the Senate.
“The power to bind the Philippines by a treaty and international agreement is vested jointly by the Constitution in the President and the Senate,” Senate Resolution 305 states.
Article VII, Section 21 of the Constitution provides” that “no treaty of international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.”
“A treaty or international agreement ratified by the President and concurred in by the Senate becomes part of the law of the land and may not be undone without the shared power that put it into effect,” the resolution adds.
Drilon first filed the resolution in 2017 during the 17th Congress. During that time, Drilon, along with 13 senators, filed Senate Resolution 289 that emphasized that the Senate should have a say when a treaty or international agreements concurred in by the Senate is terminated or abrogated. Then neophyte Senator Manny Pacquiao, however, blocked its passage.
Of the 13 who co-authored the previous resolution with Drilon, nine are incumbent members of the chamber, including Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri, Senators Leila De Lima, Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Sonny Angara, and Joel Villanueva.
While Drilon’s resolution did not pass despite having signed by majority of the senators then, succeeding resolutions adopted by the Senate explicitly provides for provision requiring the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate before a treaty concurred in by the Senate is terminated.
“The 17th Congress adopted 20 resolutions concurring in the ratification of or accession to various treaties and international agreements which provides “that the President of the Philippines may, with the concurrence of the Senate, withdraw from the Agreement,” the resolution recalls.
Among these treaties include the Accession to the Protocol of 1988 International Convention for the Safety of Life At Sea, Accession to the Protocol of 1997 Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, the Convention on Cybercrime, Asian Infrastructure Bank, a number of fishing agreement and ratification of the Paris Agreement.
Drilon also said that the sphere of foreign affairs is not within the exclusive powers of the President as held by the Supreme Court in Saguisag v. Executive Secretary (G.R. No. 212426, January 12, 2016).
“The principle of checks and balances, historical precedent and practice accepted as law in most jurisdictions, and the Constitution’s dictate for a shared treaty-making power require that a termination, withdrawal, abrogation or renunciation of a treaty or international agreement can only be done with the same authority that gave it effect – executive ratification with Senate concurrence,” Drilon said in the resolution.