PETITION
CALLING FOR THE REJECTION OF THE
VISITNG FORCES' AGREEMENT (VFA)
On September 16, 1991, the Filipino people scored a resounding victory when the Senate rejected a new Military Bases Agreement. It was a clear message to the world that we are against foreign military presence and aggression in the country as well as the concomitant hazards and damages they bring.
The treaty rejection in 1991 set the benchmark for our opposition to all unequal politico-military agreements and arrangements in the post-bases era. It is from our experience in 1991, and a hundred years of US military presence in the country, that we register our strongest opposition to another grossly unequal treaty known as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The VFA is merely another attempt at violating national sovereignty and democracy as it contains provisions worse than that of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement.
The following provisions are most objectionable and constitute the basis for the people's outrage over the VFA:
1) Art. II, Sec.1 which allows the entry of US personnel without any visa and passport documentations.
2) Art. VII and Art. VIII which allows tax exemptions for US military supplies, materials, landing or port fees, navigation and overflight charges, tolls and other similar charges.
3) Art. 5, Sec 3 and Art. 5, Sec. 6 which gives virtually full legal immunity of US personnel for crimes committed in the country as the US will have jurisdiction and custody in almost all cases involving US personnel performing official duty.
Worse than the Military Bases Agreement, the VFA will turn the country into one big military base.
Considering its social impact, the VFA will prove to be a very costly and dangerous treaty. It paves the way for US military intervention in our internal affairs. It may very well make us accomplices to wars of aggression and intervention in other Asian or Middle Eastern countries as was done in Korea and Vietnam.
The VFA also exposes the country to potential nuclear disasters as US forces will neither confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons in their ships. The so-called Joint US-RP military exercises will only result to massive displacement of peasants and rural folk as well as intensified militarization of the countryside.
Lastly, the easy access of US servicemen will result to the proliferation of prostitution, drugs, gambling and other antisocial activities dubbed as "Rest and Recreation".
Taken in its historical context, the VFA is another link in the long chain of Philippine servitude to US economic and politico-military dictates. Ever since August 13, 1898, when the United State forces landed in Manila Bay, US military presence in the Philippines have always been synonymous with aggression, violence and oppression.
The VFA, like the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, is a glaring testament to the absence of genuine freedom for our country. It is a reminder of the grossly unequal relationship existing between the Philippines and the United States.
We therefore express our most resolute opposition to another violation of national sovereignty and democracy. It is an opposition which the Senate must take heed by rejecting the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).###
Send this petition with your name and email to:
Senate
President Marcelo B. Fernan <mbfernan@mnl.sequel.net>