Secret deal may cover Basilan war games, Imee says

Rep. Imee Marcos (KBL, Ilocos Norte) said yesterday the government may have already concluded with the United States the reported Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA).

In a privilege speech, the eldest Marcos daughter revealed that she has obtained a draft copy of the agreement that she said could be the legal basis for the joint RP-US military exercises in Basilan.

She said she did not know if the agreement has already been signed by the concerned officials because the Arroyo administration has not told Congress and the nation the real score.

What she was aware of was that the draft has shuttled back and forth between the justice departments and the defense departments of the two nations, she said.

This shows that there have been negotiations that have been kept secret from the nation and the two chambers of Congress, particularly the Senate, which is constitutionally vested with a role in the conduct of the country’s foreign affairs and empowered to ratify treaties, she stressed.

There are no signatures on the eight-page draft Marcos furnished her colleagues and journalists covering the House.

The last page indicates the intended signatories, which would be the Department of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines and the Department of Defense of the United States of America.

The chief of staff of the Armed Forces was to sign for the Philippines, while the signatory for the US would be the commander-in-chief of the Hawaii-based Pacific command.

Under the section entitled "Applicability," the planned arrangement "is designed to facilitate reciprocal logistic support between the Parties whereby one party may request logistics support, supplies and services which the other may provide for the duration of the activity or situation."

Such activities or situations include combined exercises and training under the Mutual Defense Treaty, operations and deployments outside the purview of such treaty but sanctioned by the United Nations, disaster relief and rescue operations, and actual hostilities as a result of which the Mutual Defense Treaty is put into effect.

The draft agreement outlines what equipment and other items could be transferred to either party. It also defines what are supplies (food, water, petroleum, lubricants, clothing, ammunition, spare parts, components) and support services.

Such services include transportation, communications services, medical services, base operations support, storage facilities, port services, and maintenance and repairs.

Marcos told her colleagues that many of the features in the draft MLSA were contained in the Acquisitions and Cross-Servicing Agreement that the US had previously proposed and which the Senate had frowned upon.

She said it is in the nature of a treaty which the Senate must ratify.

Thus, the ongoing RP-US military exercises have no legal basis, she said.