Senate ratifies defense agreement with Australia

MANILA, Philippines - Voting 17-1, the Senate finally ratified yesterday the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) between the Philippines and Australia.

Only Sen. Joker Arroyo cast a negative vote, saying the Senate’s nod was not necessary since the executive branch did not see the need for the past two years.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who were also vocal against the ratification, were absent during the voting.

Senators Sergio Osmeña III and Aquilino Pimentel III, who earlier expressed apprehension over the SOVFA, opted to vote for its ratification.

Those who voted to ratify were Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda who chairs the foreign relations committee, and Senators Edgardo Angara, Pia Cayetano, Franklin Drilon, Chiz Escudero, TG Guingona III, Gregorio Honasan II, Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino Pimentel III, Ramon Revilla Jr., Antonio Trillanes IV, and Manuel Villar Jr.

Key administration senators were quick to say that the move was not a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the government to flex muscles amid the ongoing spat with China over the West Philippine Sea.

Guingona said he was voting for SOVFA “only for the purpose of conducting military education, training and exercise, humanitarian activities, and other related endeavors in each other’s territories.”

“Many statements have been made to the effect that this agreement means that Australia will be with us, as an ally and friend, in case the China conflict escalate. With this vote, I feel that it is my responsibility not to mislead the Filipino people as to what we can really get from the SOVFA,” he said.

“The privileges and rights given to the Australian armed forces in the Philippines will also be extended to Filipino soldiers in Australia,” he added.

Guingona said the SOVFA is not an agreement to defend each other but merely a training and education agreement.

The agreement also “does not deprive the Philippine courts of their jurisdiction to try and hear cases such as murder, rape, sexual harassment and the like,” he said.

“Unlike the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) with the United States, an agreement that continues to assault the freedom and sovereignty of the Republic, the SOVFA cures the VFA’s critical ills in the areas of jurisdiction, custody and detention,” Guingona said.

Escudero shared the belief that the SOVFA was an improvement of the VFA between the Philippines and the US.

Pimentel believes, too, that the SOVFA is a better version of the VFA with the United States.

Lawyer Rodel Cruz, who chaired the Philippine negotiating panel for the SOVFA when he was defense undersecretary, welcomed the ratification. The other members of the negotiating panel were Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio and Makabangkit Lanto, at the time justice undersecretary.

“The SOVFA sets a high standard in the treatment of visiting forces in our country based on mutual respect,” Cruz said.

The Australian SOVFA does not require the sending state to reveal if they are sending nuclear weapons.

“As an improvement in the future SOVFA, the Philippines should require the sending state to reveal to the Philippines that it is not bringing nuclear weapons in the Philippines. I hope this will be taken into account by the executive branch,” Pimentel said.

Legarda said the Senate’s concurrence is in no way a knee-jerk reaction to the dispute between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea.

“It is not against China. It is a mutual agreement which has been ongoing between the (Philippines) and Australia,” Legarda said.

“Also, as we tackle the AFP Modernization Fund, this SOVFA will complement the needs of the men and women in uniform… not only in terms of exercises… but also education (of our soldiers),” she added.

“We have not ratified the SOVFA between Australia and the Philippines for two years because we did not see the need for it. But because of our problem with China which claims some islands in the West Philippine Sea which are ours, we suddenly want to ratify it,” Arroyo said in explaining his negative vote.

“Why? Are we trying to say that other than the US, we also have other allies like Australia?” he said.

Arroyo said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which he described as “our regional friends and geographically close to us, hesitates to lend us their token support. “

“Why should we enlist Australia, which is so far away and an out and out ally of the US to be our ally too?” Arroyo said.

Although the agreement is not a defense pact, Arroyo believes that its symbolism cannot be lost on China.

“Let us not grab at straws. We must persevere,” he said.

Malacañang welcomed yesterday the SOVFA’s ratification by the Senate.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it is an “important step in enhancing our national and regional security” by ratifying the SOVFA.

“Long ratified by the Australian parliament, the SOVFA had been pending in the Senate since 2008. We thank the Senate for this historically significant action,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed the Senate ‘s ratification of the SOVFA.

“The SOVFA marks another milestone in Philippine-Australian relations,” DFA said in a statement.

“While the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperative Defense Activities serves as the framework for bilateral defense and military cooperation, the SOVFA paves the way for enhanced cooperation in capacity-building and training of armed forces, interoperability to undertake humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations, counter-terrorism, border security, and maritime security,” the DFA added.

“Australia has been assisting the Philippines in strengthening its maritime security capability with initiatives such as the Coast Watch South project and the joint Maritime Training Activity LUMBAS. These initiatives are expected to be further expanded and strengthened under the SOVFA,” the DFA said.

The DFA said that the Philippines and Australia was set to convene a Strategic Dialogue to be co-chaired by foreign affairs and defense officials in view of the SOVFA ratification.

“Their bilateral mechanism will definitely complement the SOVFA,” the DFA said.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) said that the military as an organization welcomes the ratification of the SOVFA.

“Australia is a key ally in this part of the region. SOVFA is mutually beneficial for both countries’ armed forces. SOVFA will further strengthen bilateral ties as we upgrade our soldiers’ knowledge and skills particularly in the conduct of humanitarian and disaster response,” Burgos said.

Burgos added: “This will further strengthen our bilateral relations with Australia in view of mutually contributing in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region as we gear towards a minimum credible defense capability and reliable disaster response capability.”

Australia and the United States are the country’s security partners in pursuing local and foreign terrorists, especially those who are operating in Mindanao through its funded Coast Watch South.

Coast Watch South is a satellite-based sea monitoring e activities in the country’s so-called southern back, which has been used as an entry and exit points of local and foreign terrorists operating in Southern Philippines. – With Delon Porcalla, Rainier Allan Ronda, Jaime Laude