‘Nothing secret in MLSA’

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes claimed yesterday "there was nothing secret" in the signing of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), stressing the pact was merely a "facilitation of logistics transaction" between the Philippines and the United States.

"There is nothing fantastic, nothing spectacular about it. It’s just an agreement on logistic support and facilitation," he said.

Reyes justified the hasty signing of the MLSA as essential since a public disclosure might further delay its approval.

He said Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople committed to Senate and House leaders that they would be briefed before the MLSA was made public, but admitted that the briefing could not be conducted without the pact being signed first.

Reyes said the briefing, after all, was made "as close as possible to the signing" at Camp Aguinaldo last Thursday morning.

"We did not want the public to be aware of it before we were able to brief members of Congress," Reyes said. "So that’s the reason for what we called haste, perhaps not the haste we intended."

Asked why the briefing of Congress leaders had to be done after the signing, instead of before, Reyes said: "Because it is an executive agreement. If we do that (briefing prior to signing), it might trigger debates and might drag on."

He said lawmakers might also feel bad if their ideas will not be incorporated in the agreement. "We don’t want that (disappointed lawmakers) to happen. Do the senators bring their bills to Malacañang before they pass it?" he asked.

Reyes said they are expecting waves of opposition to greet MLSA but stressed the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in fighting terrorism will be greatly enhanced by the agreement.

"This is just work and we are making sure that the interests of the Philippines are protected," he said.

Crossing party lines, lawmakers demanded an explanation from Malacañang why they were kept "in the dark" on the contents of MLSA.

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara said "Malacañang’s secrecy and arrogance" in handling the MLSA were evident when the agreement was only shown to Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, chairman of the Senate defense committee, a day after it was signed.

"As usual, Malacañang mishandled the whole matter. An agreement that is supposed to be an essential element of foreign policy was not shown to the chamber that is the mandated partner on foreign policy matters," he said.

Senate roreign relations committee chairman Sen. Manuel Villar said he was not ready to agree with the position made by Ople in claiming MLSA needs no ratification of the Senate.

Ople said MLSA does not require Senate approval since it merely implements the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement between United States and the Philippines.

"That is the view if the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of National Defense. But that is not the position of the Senate committee on foreign relations," Villar said. "The language architecture (of MLSA) is susceptible to different interpretations."

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Malacañang’s categorization of the MLSA as a "low-level agreement" was deceptive. He also assailed the failure of Malacañang to consult Congress in the signing of the controversial agreement.

Pimentel said declassification of MLSA was intended as a "ploy to avoid submission of the accord to the Senate for review and classification."

Full disclosure

Congressmen also demanded a full disclosure of the MLSA agreement from Malacañang.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Constantino Jaraula said it is imperative for Malacañang to make a full disclosure of the agreement to determine if MLSA does not violate the 1987 Constitution.

Negros Oriental Rep. Apolinario Lozada, the chairman of the House foreign relations committee, was sent a copy of the MLSA but without the 37 pages of its annex documents, Jaraula said.

"I demand immediate disclosure of all the provisions of the MLSA to avoid unnecessary speculations," Jaraula said.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos said Malacañang failed in its promise to brief lawmakers before the agreement was signed.

In a statement, Marcos claimed that it was Ople himself who publicly admitted his failure to brief Congress because he was unaware even up to the night before the signing was pushed through on Thursday.

Under the five-year military logistics agreement, US forces will be allowed to use the country as a supply center for anti-terror and other military operations.

Marcos, however, described the MLSA as an "instrument of war" for the US even as she criticized President Arroyo and the administration "for seeming so desperately supportive to the Americans."

Although the agreement did not need congressional ratification, Marcos said the House will now look into the dealings that the executive department will enter into as she reminded that Congress has the sole power to appropriate funds for the execution of the agreement.

Lawmakers said there was a fatal lapse in courtesy on the part of Malacañang to notify a co-equal branch of government in the signing of MLSA.

Pimentel insisted that MLSA is of national application that needed to be ratified by the Senate, not as a low-level agreement as classified by Malacañang.

On the other hand, Malacañang reassured MLSA critics that the five-year military cooperation pact does not prevent the Philippines to amend or abrogate the agreement.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the MLSA signing is not an effort of the executive branch of the government to bypass its co-equal branches.

Amid concerns and objections over specific provisions of the MLSA, Bunye said the Palace takes an open mind and considerations for further refinement of the pact.

"This is not something carved in stone. As you see, if you take a look at the amendment provision, this could be amended or this could even be abrogated if necessary," Bunye said.

Bunye cited Section 9 on Effective Date and Termination, paragraph 3 of MLSA as the quit clause that would allow either party to terminate the pact.

Bunye quoted the provision stating "this (MLSA) agreement will have only five years but this could be terminated upon three months notice to the other party" following the date of notification.

Bunye, however, took exception to the claims made by Vice President Teofisto Guingona who assailed President Arroyo for bypassing him in the ratification of MLSA.

Guingona earlier criticized Mrs. Arroyo for letting her key advisers to proceed with the signing of agreement even while he (Guingona) was still the Secretary of Foreign Affairs until July this year.

A ranking Palace official who spoke on condition of anonymity also belied Guingona’s claims, saying the MLSA draft was presented to him where four to five of his suggestions were even inserted into the agreement before it was signed.

Malacañang maintained MLSA is a low level executive agreement which needs no Senate ratification.

"It is our contention that this is (a) low level executive agreement which does not need Senate ratification. This is within the purview of RP-US mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement which were earlier ratified by the Senate," Bunye said.

Bunye explained MLSA is merely a "mechanical" agreement designed for administrative functions and accounting treatment of supplies and materials exchanged and utilized by military forces of both countries.

"So this is fairly straightforward, there is nothing earthshaking about this document," he said.

Bunye said Ople and Reyes will continue to brief leaders of Congress on the MLSA. – With reports from Sammy Santos, Perseus Echeminada