Group: Solgen lawyering for USS Guardian crew

MANILA, Philippines - Fisherfolk alliance Pamalakaya on Monday scored government lawyers for defending the officers and 79 crew of the USS Guardian that ran aground on Tubbataha Reef early this year.

Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France lambasted the Office of the Solicitor General for virtually acting as lawyers for the US government.

"Imagine the Office of Solicitor General providing legal services to the American military and exonerating them from their crimes against the environment and gross violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of nearly 100 million Filipinos," France said.

The Aquino government, in its reply to the Supreme Court, asked the high tribunal to junk the petition for a writ of kalikasan filed by Pamalakaya and other groups allied with Bayan.

Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza argued that the officers and crew manning the US minesweeper cannot be held criminally accountable and that the high tribunal should not issue the temporary environmental protection order on Tubbataha Reef since the grounding incident of USS is, in legal terms, “fait accompli” or an irreversible situation.

The solicitor general stressed that the USS Guardian "has the right of innocent passage" and that the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) should not be raised as an issue.

It maintained that "because there were no joint military exercises during the incident last January 17, then the VFA does not apply."

Jardaleza pointed out that the petitioners failed to establish a clear relation between the VFA and the environmental issues raised in their plea.

In their petition, Pamalakaya and Bayan asked the SC to assess the damage caused to the reef by the grounding and order a stop to US war games and port calls by US ships in the absence of clear guidelines on environmental protection under the VFA.

They also asked the high court to “stop all port calls and military exercises in the absence of clear environmental guidelines, duties, and liability schemes for breaches of those duties.”

The petitioners urged the SC to proceed with the case against US Seventh Fleet commander Scott Swift and Guardian commanding officer Mark Rice even without their answer, which the court earlier sought from the US Embassy in Manila.

Last February 5,  Pamalakaya officials lodged a complaint before the Department of Justice, urging the DOJ to file criminal and appropriate charges against officials and other 79 crew members of USS Guardian.