VFA and the Anti-Terrorism Bill: Boon or Bane?

KARAPATAN press statement, 30 August 1998

KARAPATAN <karapatan@bigfoot.com
Press Statement
Reference: Antonio Liongson, KARAPATAN Deputy Secretary General

VFA and Anti-Terrorism Bill:
A boon to the US,
A bane to the Filipino people

Human rights advocates join other militant organizations and individuals in opposing the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the US and Philippine governments.

According to Antonio Liongson, deputy secretary general of KARAPATAN, It is not coincidental that Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado is also pushing for the certification of the Anti-Terrorism Bill as an amendment to the Immigration Act of 1940. Foreign Secretary Siazon's admission that the VFA will one-sidedly benefit US military forces and Secretary Mercado's affirmation that the proposed amendments to the Immigration Act is precipitated by the bombings of the US Embassies in Africa, show the Philippine government's subservience to US interest.

Liongson averred that the true meaning of the VFA to the Filipino people is—Violence, climate of Fear, and Attacks against the toiling masses.

With the ratification of the VFA, there will be rampant violation of the peoples' rights in the country and the Asia-Pacific region. Since the VFA provides that the US military forces could enter and utilize the country's twenty-two ports anytime, human rights violations perpetrated by US military personnel could happen to anybody, anywhere and everywhere. Our grave experience with the US military bases should have taught us enough, said Liongson.

Liongson cited incidents of human rights violations at a time when the US military bases were still in the country. In 1987, Lourdes Ramos, 39 years old, was arrested by two American personnel while scavenging inside the Clark Air Base. At gunpoint, she was forced to take off her clothes and was raped by her captors. In another incident, on April 21, 1987, Isagani Pioquinto and Rowena Custodia were sprayed with bullets when they passed by the Crow Valley Firing Range. The two victims sustained multiple gunshot wounds.

Worse, the VFA does not guarantee that local courts will have jurisdiction over American personnel committing criminal acts. Should there be a crime perpetrated by an American soldier it could very well be passed-off as an act of official duty and/or the US may compel the Philippine government to turn over the suspect to them.

This shows that the agreement is one-sided, with the US government getting the better end of the deal, as the case has always been. We believe there is a hidden agenda here, that is, the granting of immunity to American offenders, Liongson averred

Under the VFA, there is no provision preventing the entry of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological) into the country. And the poor Filipinos could not scrutinize or even question what their ‘Big Brothers’ are bringing in as pasalubong (gifts).With its loopholes on the issue of nuclear weapons, the Filipino people will be living dangerously and under a climate of uncertainty and fear. Accidents or leaks will be costly to the lives of the people and would imminently harm the environment, said Liongson.

The Americans need the VFA, we don't. With all its loopholes and one-sidedness, the VFA can only be advantageous to the US. It is obvious that the Americans are using this strategy of creating military allies to secure its economic and political interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

On the other hand, Mercado's Anti-Terrorism Bill can be utilized to intimidate the people's militant anti-imperialist struggles.

The VFA is an attack on the Filipino people and undermines our sovereignty. Only the Violent Forces of America will be protected by both the VFA and the Anti-Terrorism Bill. It is highly probable that the ratification of the VFA and the Anti-Terrorism Bill will spur the commission of human rights violations in the country. And while the Estrada government acts fast in giving protection to the US, it drags its feet in providing justice to the victims of human rights violations, Liongson concluded.