Malacañang on newly signed MLSA: No big deal

Malacañang claimed yesterday the signing of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) is "no big deal" as it is no different from, if not better than, similar military logistic pacts the United States has with 56 other countries.

"Frankly we don’t see any provision whatsoever in this MLSA that will compromise the sovereignty and security of the Philippines," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

Although Malacañang and the departments of defense and foreign affairs have expected criticisms over the signing of the MLSA, Bunye said they are still surprised over the number of adverse criticisms they are getting over the signing of the agreement.

"You will note that the MLSA has been signed by 56 countries all over the world and we don’t hear anyone of them crying out about infringement of their sovereignty or security," Bunye said.

Bunye said MLSA is also known as acquisitions and cross-servicing agreement (ACSA) in other countries.

The Honolulu-based US Pacific Command has a total of nine ACSAs in force under its area of jurisdiction which included Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Thailand and Tonga in the South Pacific.

Bunye said the US is currently negotiating ACSAs with India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Mongolia, Maldives and even with the United Nations (UN).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, for his part, said the MLSA is an even better version than the ACSAs the US negotiated with other countries since it is very close to the US template of a logistics agreement.

He said the negotiations for the MLSA have been protracted because of the significant changes introduced by the Philippine side, in the nature of amendments strengthening the agreement’s adherence to the Constitution and Philippine laws.

Ople maintained that the MLSA — as an executive agreement — does not need Senate concurrence or ratification.

Bunye said Ople would schedule another briefing for the lawmakers on the MLSA.

He said it was rather unfortunate that not everyone invited was able to attend to the briefing scheduled by Ople for House and Senate leaders.

After the MLSA was signed Thursday, nationalist groups have assailed Malacañang and the defense department for allegedly negotiating the deal secretly with the US government without public debate or the concurrence of the Senate.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said MLSA would help boost the anti-terrorism operations of both allies. But Vice President Teofisto Guingona has attacked what he claimed were vague provisions in the accord which, he said, may force the Philippine government to join any US-led war, including against Iraq.

A senior military official, however, assured lawmakers have nothing to worry about since MLSA is "a well polished policy."

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya said the MLSA was not hastily done as claimed.

Abaya recalled that when he was still the AFP Deputy Chief of Staff, he made sure that his US counterpart would agree on deleting all contentious provisions in the draft which might be later attacked by lawmakers as unconstitutional.

"This was not hastily done. The question is why is this late? This (MLSA) has been in the drawing board when I was still in the TDCS (The Deputy Chief of Staff)," he said.

Abaya also claimed the US has negotiated similar MLSAs with other countries.

‘Get your act together’

In the wake of criticisms over MLSA, former Senate president Jovito Salonga said government officials must now get their act together and instead focus on promoting the national interest.

Apparently irked over the debates surrounding the controversy of MLSA signing, Salonga called on Reyes and Ople to take advantage of the disclaimers made by US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and the US government.

Salonga suggested the government must now work together to insure that the US will not use their former military facilities in Subic Bay or Clark Field.

He also said the government should also get an assurance from the US government that they would not use the Philippines as a launching pad for its war against Iraq in 2003 and stop issuing adverse travel advisories against the country.

Ricciardone had said the US does not want to maintain military bases in the country under the agreement.

Commenting on Ricciardone’s statement, Salonga said: "Talk is cheap and Ricciardone’s verbal statements don’t bind the US."

"It will be advisable to get high-level American officials, not a mere US colonel, to formally agree by means of an exchange of notes between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the US ambassador, duly authorized by the US government, that the US will not use Subic or Clark Field in any way or manner, or use any part of the Philippines in bombing and/or invasion of Iraq, which maintains friendly relations with the Philippines," he said.

Salonga, who led the "Magnificent 12" senators who voted against the stay of US military bases in the country in September 1991, pointed out that neither Ople, Reyes, the US Embassy nor Malacañang can usurp the prerogative of the Senate to ratify the agreement.

He agreed with the contention made by Senate President Franklin Drilon that no one in the executive department can speak for the Senate.

Salonga said MLSA must be treated as a treaty, not as an executive agreement as claimed by Malacañang.

‘One big base’

On the other hand, the mainstream communist movement said the signing of MLSA has converted the entire country into one big military base of the United States.

By simply "appending" MLSA to the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), "it becomes clearer that the entire Philippines will be transformed into a US military base," said Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, spokesman for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

Meanwhile, the Gathering for Peace, a coalition of 51 organizations, political blocs and non-government and sectoral organizations, said the recently signed MLSA clearly puts the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in charge of Philippine foreign policy.

Among other things, the MLSA disregards Philippine constitutional provisions regarding foreign military presence which can only be allowed with the concurrence of the Senate, it said.

Filipinos do not want to be dragged into US interventionary wars both within the Philippines and outside in what the agreement calls "cooperative efforts," such as the imminent US war with Iraq, the group led by former senator Wigberto Tañada said in a statement.

Aside from Tañada, other convenors of Gathering for Peace are Nini Quezon Avanceña, Maria Socorro Diokno, Prof. Roland Simbulan and Corazon Valdes-Fabros.

With the signing of MLSA, Rosal said there is no longer a need for both the US and Philippine governments for an express provision in the military pact for a permanent American basing in the country.

Finalized and signed last week, the MLSA commits the Philippines and US military forces to exchange fuel, supplies and other military equipment. The VFA, on the other hand, allows American forces to stay in the country for a period of time to participate with the AFP for joint military exercises.

According to Rosal, the approval of the MLSA as an executive agreement instead of being an international treaty between Malacañang and the US White House was "contrived under surreptitious circumstances." – With Benjie Villa, Roel Pareño, AFP