SAME, SAME | Access deals no different from permanent basing - Bayan

From InterAksyon (Jun 28): SAME, SAME | Access deals no different from permanent basing - Bayan

The access arrangements government is considering granting foreign troops are just another way of giving them permanent basing rights and would, therefore, be unconstitutional, the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Friday.

A day after Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin announced that the government was thinking of allowing greater access to Philippine bases to American and even Japanese forces, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said such arrangements “will allow a greater number of warships and planes to be stationed in the Philippines, for an indefinite period or even permanently, using the Visiting Forces Agreement as legal cover.”

Gazmin issued the statement to dispel speculation the Philippines was planning to build air and naval bases for the Americans in the face of China’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

But Reyes said, “Even if the facilities to be used are Philippine facilities, the fact that the US forces are there for long periods of time means these are de facto US bases.”

“Secretary Gazmin can nitpick on the terms he wants to use but what is clear here is that the Philippines wants to host more US troops and ships, and their presence will not just be temporary but permanent,” he said in a statement. “This is hardly different from the time we had bases in Subic and Clark. This may end up worse than the bases treaty because more Philippine facilities may be covered by the access arrangements.”

Reyes also said Gazmin “has no authority to offer access to Japanese forces since no military treaty exists between our countries.”

While acknowledging the need to stand up to China, Reyes said this should be done “using available diplomatic venues, bilateral and multilateral.”

He also belittled the country’s dependence on American military aid to modernize the Armed Forces, saying, “It is clear that hanging on to the coat tails of Uncle Sam has not gotten us very far.”

Most of the military materiel the Philippines has acquired from the US dates back to the Vietnam War era, such as the ubiquitous UH-1H Huey helicopters. The latest acquisitions include two re-commissioned Hamilton Coast Guard cutters that are at least 45-years old, now touted as the premier ships of the Philippine Navy.

Reyes said Gazmin’s statement made it important for the Supreme Court to immediately resolve a pending petition it has filed against the US Navy and the VFA over the grounding earlier this year of the American minesweeper, USS Guardian, on Tubbataha Reef.

“Up to now, the US government has not paid a single cent to the Philippines for the damage to the reef,” he said. “The incident also exposed the major flaws of the VFA as there were no clear environmental guidelines in the agreement as well as procedures in dealing with such offenses.”

“It is important that the SC rule on our petition and put a stop to these port calls and exercises,” Reyes added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/65114/same-same--access-deals-no-different-from-permanent-basing---bayan