Australia assures troops will not engage in combat

Australia assured that their military will not engage in combat operations against terrorists in the Philippines under the bilateral defense pact Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA).

Australian Ambassador Tony Hely said that visiting Australian troops under the agreement would not be sent to defend Australia’s mining interests in the Philippines.

“That is just a complete misunderstanding of the SOVFA. That would never happen for three or four reasons. One is the Australian government will never allow it. The Philippine government would never agree to it. The SOVFA doesn’t allow for it and the Philippine Constitution does not allow for it. So it won’t happen and will never happen,” Hely said.

He explained that the SOVFA is limited to training, education, combined exercises and other activities that both governments will agree to, such as disaster relief.

The envoy added that Australia is concerned that the ratification of the SOVFA, which will allow joint military exercises between the two countries, would be further deferred in the Senate.

Canberra, he said, is expecting the Senate to approve the agreement since Australia’s parliament has already ratified the pact.

“The issue is that we get a little nervous that it might get pushed back and pushed back because of a lot of competing interests,” he said.

The SOVFA with Australia is the second military agreement involving bilateral training and exercises that was entered into by the Philippines after the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.

“I guess that is a sort of concern that may well come up and that is why the Senate will have public hearings so organizations, including civil society, can register their concerns and their views and they can have those addressed and responded to. But we do not think it should be a problem for civil society,” Hely said.

President Arroyo and then Australian Prime Minister John Howard witnessed the signing of the SOVFA at the Parliament House in Canberra during her state visit to Australia in June 2007.

Hely said the SOVFA will enhance defense and counter-terrorism capabilities of both countries, provide education and training, capacity-building, and humanitarian and disaster/relief assistance.

Once signed, the Australian government has pledged to provide grants for military training in order to upgrade the capability of Filipino soldiers.