EDITORIAL - Reviewing a partnership

Though lacking in enthusiasm, senators have effectively approved a review of the Visiting Forces Agreement, by not voicing opposition to Resolution 1356 of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. Before anyone gets cold feet and worries about being denied a US visa, executive officials tasked to review the VFA must remember US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, whose trial and conviction for rape, subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeals, highlighted certain provisions of the agreement that are lopsided in favor of the Americans.

The VFA and its companion agreement, VFA II, gives the US custody of American soldiers accused of crimes in the Philippines until final resolution of the case. Or at least that was the interpretation of both the US and Philippine governments in the case of Smith, who was transferred, with Manila’s consent, from the Makati City Jail to the US embassy during his trial. There is no reciprocal provision in the VFA for Filipino soldiers who might find themselves in the same predicament in the United States. Also, there is a provision in the VFA that says the Philippine government can decline a US request for custody of its soldiers under certain circumstances — something that Manila did not invoke in the case of Smith.

Some legal observers have also pointed out that since the VFA is considered a mere executive agreement by Washington while the Philippines considers it as a treaty requiring Senate ratification, the agreement is void. US officials have said they saw no need to renegotiate the treaty, insisting that the VFA worked fine in the case of Smith. But even Americans should see the need for clarification of certain provisions in the VFA, including the one that is vague on when the one-year period for the final conclusion of judicial proceedings involving their military personnel is supposed to start and end. Are appeals covered by this period?

The VFA review will cover the country’s defense cooperation with Washington in general, which Philippine officials said have been beneficial for the country. The two countries share democratic ideals and have a century-old partnership that should not be imperiled by the review of a defense agreement. Post-colonial relationships are always complex. The new US president, Barack Obama, is proving himself to be more responsive to the views of America’s global partners. A review of the VFA should lead not to acrimony but to a more mature relationship between two long-standing allies.