PH won’t ban nuke-capable US ships under pact

From the Manila Standard Today (Apr 14): PH won’t ban nuke-capable US ships under pact

Malacañang said nuclear-capable vessels of the United States will not be banned from entering the country under the proposed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Manila and Washington.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said what the 1987 Constitution specifically bans is the entry of vessels carrying nuclear weapons.

“You have to draw the distinction between nuclear-capable as those carrying nuclear weapons because the distinction is very obvious in the Constitution,” Valte said.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia said all forms of nuclear weapons will be prohibited in the country under the EDCA in accordance with the Constitution.

Last year, the Palace had to explain to the public that the docking in Subic of the USS Cheyenne, a nuclear-powered submarine, did not violate the Constitution.

The USS Cheyenne made a port of call in February 2013 for a “routine ship replenishment.”

Over the weekend, a Palace official said President Benigno Aquino III will use the 1987 Constitution as well as the national interest in reviewing the EDCA draft once it is submitted by the Philippine negotiating panel led by Defense Undersecretary Pio Batino.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Sonny Coloma also denied that both sides are rushing the agreement to time the signing during the visit of United States President Barack Obama, tentatively on April 28.

“There is no deadline for the signing of the agreement. What’s important is that this pact must reflect the highest interest of our country in terms of national defense,” Coloma said.

Cuisia earlier disclosed that the EDCA will only allow the American military to access and use facilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines “at the invitation of the Philippines.”

Cuisia said the US will also be required to get the consent of the Philippines as to what they can bring into the country.

But the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan warned that Filipinos must not be fooled into thinking that the US would willingly serve as a counterbalance to China through its Asian pivot without getting the lion’s share from the EDCA.

“The imminent signing of the so-called EDCA will be a gross violation of Philippine sovereignty and the Constitution,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

“The oft-repeated rationale is that we need this agreement with the US to protect ourselves from Chinese incursions. So what Aquino is basically saying is, to protect Filipinos from the neighborhood bully, we’re inviting a rapist inside our house to do as he pleases. That is the implication of this agreement. We’re being told we’re getting a good deal but in fact we’re getting the short end of the stick,” Reyes added.

He said the US cannot be trusted to respect Philippine sovereignty, citing that American troops have “always considered themselves above the laws of their host countries.”

“Everywhere in the world where US troops are stationed, whether as an occupation force, or through foreign bases or military exercises, the problems are the same,” Reyes said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/04/15/ph-won-t-ban-nuke-capable-us-ships-under-pact/