THE murder of transgender Filipina Jennifer Laude in Olangapo City last October 11, allegedly by US Marine Joseph Pemberton, has added fuel to the fire of nationalist activists who continue to fight for the abolition of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), and the scrapping of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), signed during President Barack Obama’s trip to the Philippines in April.
EDCA paved the way for expanded US military presence in the Philippines on a rotational basis and allows greater access to military installations. Pemberton was among US soldiers participating in joint military training exercises in the Philippines.
President Benigno Aquino III said on Monday there is no reason to abolish the VFA, explaining that the fault of one is not the fault of the rest.
US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) community leaders back PNoy’s position on VFA, and remind kababayans of the help the Philippines is getting from the United States through the VFA and EDCA during times of calamities, and in the ongoing territorial dispute against China in the West Philippine Sea.
In my interview last week with USP4GG President Rodel Rodis on Balitang America, he said there is no need to amend the VFA if only to put Pemberton under Philippine custody, because Article 5 Section 6 of the VFA agreement provides that the Philippines can request custody of a US personnel once it has been assessed that the crime allegedly committed falls under “special circumstances”— as in the case of Laude’s murder.
This VFA provision was likewise cited by DFA spokesperson Charles Jose cited Article V, which states that US has jurisdiction over the physical custody of a US personnel tagged in a crime not related to his line of duty.
“The custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings,” the pertinent VFA provision read.
Jose, however, said there is no guarantee that the US will grant this request.
The prosecution has now been receiving evidences that strengthen the case against accused: the CCTV footage taken by the surveillance video from the motel where Laude was found dead on the night of October 11, and the affidavits of four other US Marines who were identified as witnesses.
US Secretary of State John Kerry assured the Philippine government last Tuesday that the United States will cooperate in the investigation of the Jennifer laude murder case.
Kerry told Philippine Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario that the US is not seeking special privileges, and that America will continue to respect the rule of law and uphold the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the accused Joseph Pemberton is still in the Philippines and was personally seen by someone from the Philippine side.
The DFA’s statement on if and when the Philippines can have custody over Pemberton at this stage has been debunked by Atty. Evalyn Ursua, the lawyer who represented “Nicole” in her rape case against a US soldier in 2006, saying the Philippines has jurisdiction over such cases, including custody of the suspect.
Ursua contended that the Philippines does not have to wait for a warrant of arrest before insisting on custody of Private First Class Joseph Pemberton — an argument concurred to by Atty. Harry Roque, the lawyer representing the Laude family.
Militant groups in the US remain firm in their call. “We agree that the visiting forces agreement should be scrapped,” said Nikole Cababa, Regional Coordinator of Bayan USA So-Cal, “And we should include in that the most newly passed EDCA because that also opens the door to more militarization.”
In a report by Steve Angeles on Balitang America, Cababa contended, “There are a number of human rights violations that we can look at under President Aquino’s administration. The US military presence only increases the violence we see amongst women, children, and families across the Philippines.”
“We demand President Aquino, as he has the power and responsibility, to compel the US to surrender Pemberton,” said Terrie Cervas, Vice Chair of Gabriella USA, on the Balitang America report. “We also demand President Obama to wave custody of Pemberton and we will continue to organize until these victims get justice.”
In Balitang America’s online poll, however, it seems the Fil-Ams who voted believe the benefits of the VFA outweighs whatever criticisms militant groups have against it.
When asked, “Should the Visiting Forces Agreement be scrapped following the death of transgender Pinay Jennifer Laude? “ An overwhelming majority — 84% –of those who voted said NO.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
I totally disagree with the joint resolution of Senator Miriam Santiago and Akbayan representative Walden Bello to abolish VFA.
In a military perspective or from the point of view of national security, the presence of american soldiers and their military hardware are effective deterrent from the despicable China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea that disregards the sovereignty of the Philippines. For the leftist organizations who are obviously Pro China view the existence of the american soldiers in the Philippines as a sort of imperialism, with the advent of technological advances in communication such as the internet, Imperialism is an irrelevant issue. Another thing is that, the leftists theorize that imperialism is one of the causes of the indomitable poverty in the Philippines, but the truth is, massive graft in corruption in our bureaucracy is the main culprit of hunger, and Senator Miriam must address this if she is a nationalist or protecting the interest of the poor people. Another reason, in the rural areas, men engage in gambling or drinking tuba as early as 9 in the morning instead of planting cash crops that may save his family from the bacteria of poverty one day. I have a poems for this that portray the causes of our poverty.
Himas
Bago pa man mag hilamos,
balahibo ni tandang ang hinihimas,
bahala na kung si bunso’y walang makakain,
basta si tandang ay may tutukain.
Sikat ng araw ay tirik na,
si tandang pa rin ang kinakasama,
samantalang sakaha’y tumitigang,
sige lang basta si tandang ay may maiinom lang.
buong taong ipon, isinugal sa sabungan,
baka sa silong doon, nakipag -sapalaran,
bale isang palo lang, natagpuan ni tandang ang kamatayan,
bulagta, kaya’y pamilya mo’y lalong pumapait ang kapalaran.
Sa gilingan ng bigas ay muling umutang,
samantalang tubo’y sintayog ng ulap ang lutang,
sa susunod na anihan, kita’y malilimas,
sigurado na ika’y wala ng mahihimas.
Sakla, sakali at saklap
Tanghaling tapat sa talipapa,
tlangkang paninda ni aling Maria,
talbos ng mga kamote rin ay ubos na,
tantiya’y isang libo ang benta,
tanghalia’y nakalimutan din at umuwi na.
Ngunit, imbes sa bahay dumiretso ay sa saklaan nawili,
ngiti ng bawat baraha, pagod niya’y lubusang napawi,
nagparaos ngunit ay nasayang ang mga sandali,
naubos din pati puhunan, kaya’y nagsi-sisi,
ni isang piso’y walang natira, biguang umuwi.
Kanyang nadatnan, anak na dilat ang mga mata,
kalam ng sikmura ay ulirat ang nawawala,
kaya ay sa turko muling kumapit, desperada,
kakarampot na kita ay nahigp ng interes, mapagsamantala,
kaya ay gutom pa rin ang patutunguhan niya.
Sa hanay ng mga aktibista ay sumali,
sa pamahalaan ibinato ang lahat ng sisi,
sa imperyalismo, kahirapan ay isini-sisi,
sa mga turko, kawalan ay isini-sisi,
sa saklaan pa rin naman siya nawiwili.
In the economic perspective, the presence of 30,000 to 40,000 american soldiers benefit the small businesses and local handicraft industries since american soldiers spend millions of dollars which are directly injected to our economy, these millions of dollars fuel any local economies that provide more jobs for the poor people, when the americans left long time ago, local economies went bankrupt and the government did nothing to provide jobs for those who went jobless.
The U.S. businessmen invested billions of dollars too in this country to boost the economy like Dole and Del Monte yet our lawmakers keep a blind eye on the advantage of having the americans here.
I must say, no to Miriam’s resolution, it is very detrimental to our country and to our economy, this will gonna give difficulties for our medical workers or skilled workers to obtain U.S. Visa and work in the land of opportunities. She should look at the bigger picture that the remittances of these workers grease our economy and help it to survive from any asian financial crisis but sad to say our lawmakers plundered this money too.
Our country benefited from billions of dollars that the U.S. government has been funding us from infrastructures to our industries and agricultural sectors and again 80 percent of the American aid went straight to the pockets of our lawmakers.
In times of our tragedies and calamities the Unites States stood with us to feed the hungry victims during the wake of Yolanda and our government officials were busy debating for nothing while millions are going hungry every day yet the american soldiers risk their lives for our sake, we should be grateful for their acts of kindness.
And to scrap VFA is purely madness, just publicity for our lawmakers at the expense of our national security.