Visiting US troops told to behave

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACom) said yesterday US military personnel who are part of a four-day goodwill visit by USS George Washington to the country are under strict orders not to commit abuses and not to go to places where they could land in trouble.

Undersecretary Edilberto Adan said the VFACom advised US military officials to orient the servicemen to behave and respect local customs.

“They’re under strict orders not to go places where they could be in trouble. We advised their officials to orient those who are going down to make sure they behave and respect local customs and traditions and respect Filipino hospitality,” Adan said.

“There’ll be some limited liberties and this is good for our tourism industry and for our people to see foreigners who want to partake of Filipino hospitality. We should welcome them,” he added.

The visiting US military personnel, who arrived yesterday, are allowed to go on R&R (rest and recreation), like going to the malls.

Adan added that there should be no discrimination against US troops because of the incident involving a US Marine convicted of raping a Filipina.

“We welcome foreigners to avail of our tourist establishments as long as they behave, respect our laws, as long as there are no abuses. So we should not discriminate against any particular nationality just because they belong to a uniformed service of a foreign country,” he said.

According to Adan, the entry and visit of USS George Washington should not raise questions because it does not violate the Constitution, which prohibits nuclear weapons but not nuclear-powered vessels.

He said the Department of Foreign Affairs cleared the visit.   – Pia Lee-Brago