A New Basing Treaty replacing a Very Favorable Agreement (VFA)

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago wants an abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in the light of revelations that 500 or so US soldiers are routinely being stationed in Mindanao even without the Balikatan exercises. US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, meanwhile, said that there's no need to review the agreement since it works for the interests of both sides. Lt Senior Grade Nancy Gadian's "revelations" that the US maintains "forward bases" in the Philippines have sparked renewed public interest in the VFA. Despite the VFA, Gadian said that US troops are not observing the "proper decorum" in accordance with the Very Favorable Agreement (VFA).

Now, is Miriam Defensor-Santiago's call for the abrogation of the VFA a real honest-to-goodness attempt at protecting Philippine sovereignty from US intervention? No.

Santiago is part of a charade which aims to force a new treaty more favorable to the United States. How's that? If you analyze the arguments of Santiago, she questions the length of stay or period of "basing" by US troops, not the legal processes within the pact itself. What Santiago proposes is for the US to be "clear" on the length of stay of its troops in Philippine territory. That, by itself, is a message for the US to "renegotiate" not an executive agreement, but a TREATY that would revive the idea of stationing US troops for a long period of time here.

So, a charade is being done in full public view to justify a new basing treaty, even using Gadian both to justify the re-negotiation and divert public attention from the finer details of this new treaty being proposed.

DILG Role in Nicole Recantation

What's the role played by DILG Undersecretary Marius Corpus in securing a compromised agreement between the parties of Suzette (Nicole) Nicolas, the alleged Subic rape victim, and convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith?

Remember that last year, Corpus was sent to the US embassy to look after Smith. There were reports last year of an attempt by the US government to send Smith home.

Was Corpus visit to the US embassy one of many meetings that led to the eventual recantation of Nicole? Are those visits official negotiations between the US and Philippine governments in relation to the eventual reversal of the conviction of Smith?

In an interview late last year, Corpus was heard over ABS-CBN 2 telling us that there are indications that "this issue would be resolved soon." Was that a slip of the tongue?

If Corpus had a hand in the negotiations that led to Nicole's trip abroad last January, then, this provides introvertible proof that there was a government-to-government involvement in Nicole's case. And for what?

To secure the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Nicole should not be blamed

Twenty five year old Suzette Nicolas, the alleged rape victim of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith left the country for America two months ago. Nicolas decided to go the States to be with her beau, another American serviceman based in America.

Her mom, Susan Nicolas said, it's time for her daughter to move on with her life. " There's no justice here," Susan said, citing reports that Smith continues to defy the Supreme Court decision ordering the US government to hand over Smith and make him serve his sentence in a Philippine facility while awaiting judgment in his appeal filed at the Court of Appeals.

Question---will we fault her? Will we now say that she made the right decision? Or, her decision to leave this country and settle abroad is, again, a wrong one?

No one has the right to judge Nicole. I mean, those who now militate against her action, are not rape victims. They are spectators. Like Smith, they used Nicole to further their own personal interests. Those who judge Nicole are worst than those four servicemen who cheered Smith while he violated Nicole inside that van parked in Neptune Club some years ago.

Nicole just wanted to end the cycle of abuse that she and her family were experiencing since she filed that complaint against Smith. That rape was just the beginning. When she exposed what had happened to her before the prying eyes of the public, she was being violated, and raped, and abused, millions of times.

The media used her to highlight the obvious effects of such an incident relative to US-Philippine relations. Civil society, especially those who have traditional hatred against America, used her and propped her as a symbol. They squeezed every single publicity drop out of her. And the government, this morally decrepit regime, used her as leverage in its game with the newly installed leadership.

Obviously, certain forces and powers were at play in this drama. Late last year, this parody was conceived in those dark corners of the palace and inside the hallways of the US embassy. Remember that this government played the Smith card when it sent that DILG undersecretary to check on Smith. Undersecretary Santos might have been ordered by the palace to squeeze a compromise. Or maybe, just maybe, Santos might have conspired with the legal team of Smith and the family of Nicole to put an end to this affair that has shamed both countries.

Eventually, this recantation will be used to justify the release of Smith and finally end the debate on whether to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not. Probably, the US realized that they need the VFA given the increasing security threats they are facing in the Pacific.

Boldly, Smith will be released and immediately sent to the States. While Nicole, well, she was sent there, hoping to find that happiness in the arms of that guy, who professed to love her inspite of what happened.

We are not rape victims and we are not in the position to judge her.

Obama took the VFA bait

Finally, after several attempts and even a costly visit to the United States early this year, US President Barack Obama called Philippine president Mrs. Arroyo up yesterday, allegedly affirming the US commitment to the Visiting Forces Agreemet (VFA).

It was so obvious that the reason why this government allowed media to feast on the Daniel Smith affair is basically as a bait for Obama to finally give Mrs. Arroyo an audience.

It's surprising though, why even cause-oriented groups and legislators took part in this obvious papansin gesture and why they allowed themselves to be used by Mrs. Arroyo to bait Obama.

Obviously, Obama can't go against established agreements like the VFA, since, as the State Department earlier reiterated, the VFA is an important cog in the overall US mainland security plan.

And with China's weakening economic power and the increasing presence of international terrorists in Mindanao, Obama has no choice but to call Mrs. Arroyo.

Does this mean that this administration would now be abandoning its position relative to the Smith affair? And that it will now allow the convicted rapist to just be expatriated to the US and serve his sentence there?

More than this, this incident showed how our government really view external affairs---it's definitely personal. It's neither based on solidly founded Constitutional principles nor on properly researched positions. It's simply personal when we conduct our affairs.

And Obama was made a sucker.