Senate role in PH-US defense pact splits Aquino allies

From InterAksyon (Apr 28): Senate role in PH-US defense pact splits Aquino allies

Allies of President Aquino in the Senate are split in viewing the new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed by US and Philippine officials hours before President Barack Obama arrived in Manila.

Two senators- Antonio Trillanes IV and Grace Poe- said the new 10-year agreement, which allowed for longer periods of increased rotational presence of US troops and materiel in Philippine facilities, need not go through the Senate for concurrence. But Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the foreign relations panel chair, reiterated her position the accord should undergo concurrence by the Senate, vested by the Philippine Constitution with treaty-ratifying powers.

Santiago also warned that the EDCA will further antagonize China  because in effect the country gave its consent to be listed in America’s column, instead of the Chinese.

Unfair surprise

Santiago chafed at the seeming “surprise” moves taken by Executive officials – and the US side – in rolling out the EDCA, which until Sunday noon had been uncertain, according to Palace officials who briefed reporters.

She also sensed some manipulation in having the accord signed by just the Philippine defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Washington’s envoy to Manila Philip Goldberg.

“All the while, the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which I am chair, expected that any such Agreement would be signed by the two Presidents,” Santiago said.

Santiago said she had argued that such an Agreement should first be submitted for concurrence to the Senate. 

“There was no hint that the Agreement has been downgraded, for signature not by the two Presidents, but only by the defense secretary and the American ambassador in Manila,” Santiago said.

“This contretemps does not indicate good faith on the part of the two Presidents.  The use of guile in diplomacy should be limited to state-to-state situations, and should not include a situation involving only two branches of the same government,” she added.
        
Santiago said the Senate has not been given the courtesy from the Executive department to be furnished with a copy; Malacanang instead announced it will be released by Thursday or four days later after the Obama visit.

“I feel as if I have been slapped, or ordered to melt into the wallpaper,” she said.

America cannot have it both ways

In an age when states collide no longer because of ideology but because of geopolitics, she is no longer worried that the country might become beholden to American interests.

“From the time of the American colonial regime in my country, American business and military interests have always dictated American policy with respect to all countries, including PH.  America cannot have it both ways.  It cannot tie down PH to a mutual defense treaty, and yet hope that it will not ruffle the feathers of China,” Santiago said.

She added that the U.S. should not continue to treat PH as a satellite state, while aiming to remain on good terms with China, which has been seizing the initiative in Asian maritime territorial disputes. 

“The three top economies in the world consist of the U.S., China, and Japan.  It is understandable why PH is being treated so shabbily,” she said.

Antagonizing China

Meanwhile, she warned of the complications from the new agreement, with regard to how Beijing views Washington and Manila. “Definitely, the new agreement further antagonizes the Philippines’ ties with China. Whatever it may contain will further antagonize China because in effect, we consent that the PH should be listed under the American column, instead of the China column,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that if China reaches out to Russia while the Ukraine issue continues to simmer, the US will certainly call on PH to fulfil its treaty obligation under the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

“The PH executive branch apparently adopts the attitude that the Mutual Defense Treaty will oblige the U.S. to automatically come to the aid of PH if attacked by China.  I respectfully dissent,” she said.

For one thing, Santiago said that “the MDT does not define what a “metropolitan territory” of each State is.”

“For another thing, the MDT provides that U.S. will come to the aid of PH only after the issues has been passed through US constitutional processes, meaning that it is subject to open-ended debate in the US Congress,” she said.

Trillanes, Poe disagree with Santiago

Earlier, in separate text messages, Senator Grace Poe and Antonio Trillanes IV said they were both briefed by defense and foreign affairs officials on the document before it was signed in time for the arrival of President Barack Obama today.

Poe, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs, said the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) falls under the VFA, which was ratified by the Senate in 1999.

“I understand this is a supplemental (agreement) providing details to implement the VFA,” she said.

Poe said she feels that the country needs the agreement at this time as “we are asserting our sovereignty and guarding our territory against the possible incursion of China over West Philippine Sea.”

“I just hope that our AFP will take this opportunity to modernize truly our armed forces and harness security and defense system with this agreement,” she said.

Poe said she recommended the full publication of the pact for scrutiny and transparency.

The Senate Oversight Committee on VFA can assess the new agreement as it “is within the limits of the original Visiting Forces Agreement, just to assure our citizenry that is fair and proper,” she said.

Senate was briefed

For his part, Trillanes, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said his panel has been thoroughly briefed at every step of the negotiations for the EDCA.

“We have understood that while the agreement per se would be made public, the negotiations cannot be discussed publicly, since we are dealing with security matters,” he said.

Trillanes, former rebel soldier-turned politician, said he believes EDCA does not need the ratification of the Senate.

“It is but implementing guidelines of the Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement and there are no new concepts introduced to make it an entirely different treaty,” he said.

“Having said this, anybody can raise this issue to the Supreme Court for their disposition,” Trillanes added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/85622/senate-role-in-ph-us-defense-pact-splits-aquino-allies