THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday voted to uphold the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) between the Philippines and the US governments that was signed in April 2014.
SC Spokesman Theodore Te said 10 ofthe justices declared the agreement constitutional on the ground that Article XVIII, Section 25 of the 1987 Constitution allows the President to enter into an executive agreement on foreign military bases, troops, or facilities as long as it merely intends to implement an existing law or treaty, such as the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The SC held that, contrary to the claims of the petitioners, Edca is an executive agreement that does not require concurrence of the Senate.
The Court pointed out that the President’s power to enter into executive agreements (different from treaties) not requiring Senate concurrence has been well-recognized and long upheld by the tribunal.
“The Court ruled that the Edca is not the instrument that allows US ‘troops or facilities’ to enter, as the Visiting Forces Agreement already has done that…. The Edca provides for arrangements to implement the existing treaty allowing entry of foreign military troops of facilities under the VFA and MDT, and, thus, may be in the form of an executive agreement solely within the powers of the President and not requiring Senate concurrence under Article XVIII, Section 25,” the SC said in a ruling penned by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Those who dissented from the majority opinion were Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Arturo Brion, Marvic Leonen and Estela Perlas Bernabe, while Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza took no part.
The SC pointed out that it cannot bar the President from choosing an executive agreement over a treaty.
“The President’s choice of an executive agreement to contain the Edca places the burden on respondents to show that it is mere implementation of existing laws and treaties concurred in by the Senate. On this, the Court found that the burden had been discharged by the respondents,” it added.
The Court junked the two petitions filed by former Senators Rene Saguisag and Wigberto Tañada, and Party-list Reps. Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna questioning the legality of Edca.
The petitioners alleged that the administration committed a grave abuse of discretion when it entered into the Edca, as it constitutes a derogation of the country’s dignity and an unconscionable sellout of sovereignty, and that it contravenes the country’s national interests as it is “primarily motivated by the US strategic rebalancing toward Asia and is, therefore, in the service of US security and economic interests.”
They added that contrary to the claim of the respondents, the Edca is “not in implementation or furtherance of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries and the VFA, and that the country might once again become a staging ground for the deployment of US ships, aircraft and even missile systems overseas because of the prepositioning and the deployment of materiel allowed under the Edca.
The petitioners also said the respondents yielded to the US forces the operational control of agreed location for construction activities and the operational control and defense of these agreed locations.
The government, on the other hand, insisted that the agreement is a valid executive agreement that could stand, even without the concurrence of the Senate.
Under the Edca, the US will be allowed to build structures; store—as well as preposition—weapons, defense supplies and materiel; station troops; civilian personnel and defense contractors; transit and station vehicles, vessels and aircraft for a period of 10 years.
Image credits: Henry Empeño
3 comments
To contravene justice is to used a better Parliamentary discussion especially, in the means of that EDCA. In the utilization of a government everyone must console a good supplies of EN BANC in order to create a good envoys of voting. In making a whim for the bilateral “so called treaty” each vyes of people could be given a multiplicaty of composition of discussion in order to gain ABC’s of options and to avoid mischievous acts especially in the consolidation of democracy.
To contravene justice is to used a better Parliamentary discussion
especially, in the means of that EDCA. In the utilization of a
government everyone must console good supplies of EN BANC in order to
create good envoys of voting. In making a whim for the bilateral “so
called treaty” each vyes of people could be given a multiplicaty of
composition of discussion in order to gain ABC’s of options and to avoid
mischievous acts especially in the consolidation of democracy.
Kung ang US MILITARY FACILITIES ang kailangan para ma-balanse ang pwersa at mabantayan ang mga isla ng Pilipinas, base sa UNCLOS at matiyak ang international safe navigation passage West Philippine Sea, ang isa sa pinakamainam na gawin ng
PILIPINAS ay IDEVELOPED ang isla, IPAHIRAM at IPAGAMIT ito sa mga AMERIKANO (PAGASA ISLAND / KALAYAAN Island) para gawing US MILITARY BASE.
Kung ma-dedeveloped into a full blown US Military Base, mas strategic at malapit ito sa mga pinabrikang mga isla at ngtayo’y mga Military Garisson na ng China… ang PAGASA island ay halos 200 milya ang layo sa OLONGAPO at SUBIC na kilalang prostitution den at nauudyuk na makagawa ng krimen ang mga sundalong KANO.