THE Aquino administration is not inclined to let the United States reestablish military bases in the country but indicated it was open to “temporary” basing arrangements with the US amid escalating tension in the Korean peninsula and brewing border conflicts between China and its neighbors, including the Philippines.
“We cannot allow the US to own bases the way they used to,” Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said.
But Carandang quickly added that the Philippine government, which has a standing Mutual Defense Treaty with America, can give the US “temporary access to our bases.”
“They would still be our bases under our control,” Carandang clarified.
Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, in a press briefing on Monday, told reporters that the government still needs to study the suggestions separately aired by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and other concerned officials to let the US set up bases here again, despite a constitutional prohibition banning the presence of foreign military bases in the country.
“That has to be studied in line with the Constitutional provision prohibiting foreign bases...so that will have to be studied,” Lacierda said.
“Again, these are only options and I spoke to Secretary Gazmin [and] the context to his answer there is that lf there was going to be an actual shooting war. No. 2, that in his view, the basing will only be temporary,” he added.
Lacierda explained that the prospects of allowing the return of US bases in the country was part of the “scenario-building options that the secretary of national defense is mandated to do.”
“Part of his mandate is to build, to look into several options, several scenarios, in case of conflict, if the Korean peninsula conflict would escalate,” he added.
Coast Guard joins ‘Guardian’ probe
A team of five ranking Coast Guard officers flew to Japan on Wednesday to participate in the next stage of the investigation into the grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian at Tubbataha Reef on January 17.
The Coast Guard Marine Casualty Team will go to the United States’s naval base in Sasebo, Japan, to meet with their counterparts.
Rear Adm. Luis Tuason Jr., Coast Guard vice commandant and Marine Casualty Team chairman, and Commo. Enrico Evangelista, Coast Guard Palawan district commander and team vice chairman, lead the team.
Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena, Coast Guard commandant, said the five-member team will exchange information with the US Navy and may return as early as Friday.
Isorena added that the team will have 10 days to prepare and submit a report to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya who, in turn, will submit it to President Aquino.
An investigation showed that the USS Guardian damaged 2,345.67 square meters (sq m) of the reef.
Salvage teams managed to cut and remove the ship from the reef only on March 30.
But a few days after the USS Guardian was removed from the area, a Chinese fishing boat with 12 crewmen aboard ran aground at the reef on April 8.
Writ of kalikasan sought
THE Supreme Court was asked on Wednesday to issue a writ of kalikasan and a temporary environmental protection order against the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in connection with the grounding of the USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reef.
The petition was filed by environmentalists, scientists and activists before the Supreme Court (SC), seeking intervention on the policy of the government to enter into an agreement and allow the entry of foreign troops on Philippine soil to conduct joint military exercises that result to environmental destruction, such as the grounding of the US Navy minesweeper at the Tubbataha Reef, which is supposed to be off limits to all types of ships.
The petitioners, who include Bishop Pedro Arigo of Palawan, claimed that the grounding, salvaging and post-salvage operations at the Tubbataha Reef as a result of the minesweeper’s grounding caused and continue to cause environmental damage that violates the rights of Filipinos to a balance and healthful ecology.
The petition also claimed that the situation was aggravated by the fact that the culprits were not brought to justice for the destruction wrought to the reef.
“We filed this case because of the inaction of the government to exact justice from the USS Guardian grounding incident. The US Navy clearly violated our laws and trampled on our sovereignty yet the Aquino administration is inutile to make the US Navy and the USS Guardian personnel held accountable,” Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE said.
The petitioners said the current valuation and compensation demanded made by the Aquino administration is not enough and pale in comparison with the prior valuations and compensation made by the US Navy like the USS Port Royal’s 2009 grounding in Hawaii.
Lawyer Edsel Tupaz, the counsel for the petitioners, explained that the Tubbataha Reef Park is richer in biodiversity and has a higher ecological importance, thus the valuation of the the damage should be greater than the government earlier assessed.
He said that it would be detrimental to the country if the government pursues the said valuation.
The US Navy paid the State of Hawaii a total of $15 million as compensation for the 8,000 sq m of damaged reef and proposed a restoration value of $20 million to $45 million.
On the other hand, the Aquino administration is asking the US government for a mere $1.4 million for the damage at Tubbataha, a Unesco World Heritage Site and included in the list of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance.
The Philippine government used $596 per sq m. as monetary valuation of Tubbataha Reef while the US valuation used in Hawaii is $3,125 per sq m.
But more than the issue of compensation, Bautista said the country’s sovereignty is of utmost importance.
“The issue goes far beyond monetary compensation. The US Navy minesweeper’s grounding is brought about by the implementation of the VFA. The presence of US troops and the conduct of their military exercises and maneuverings in our country have brought about massive damage to our ecological systems. Worst, under the VFA, the US troops who commit environmental, civil nor criminal offenses while ‘visiting’ our country, are not arrested,” Bautista explained.
The petitioners cited that the US has not been made liable for environmental damage and degradation that resulted from the annual war games, such as coral reef destruction or toxic waste pollution from naval maneuvers, gas leakage, and live fire exercises.
“We are asking the Court to issue a writ of kalikasan against the VFA. The SC should immediately set guidelines to protect our environment, and put clear penalties and punishments for the violations and damages done and will be done by the US forces under the VFA. Better, the court should abrogate the VFA,” Bautista said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.