Reyes dares MLSA critics: Go to Supreme Court

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes dared yesterday critics of the RP-US Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) to question the legality of the pact before the Supreme Court (SC).

In a press briefing, Reyes also said he and Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople are scheduled to brief leaders of both chambers of Congress on the MLSA which he described as a "very routinary agreement" between Manila and Washington.

"The Supreme Court is the proper venue to ventilate all of these (issues against the MLSA)," Reyes said.

At the Senate, a joint panel starts this morning its hearings on the MLSA to determine if it needed ratification by the chamber.

The hearing, to be conducted by the Senate committees on foreign relations and on national defense, will be attended by Ople and Reyes.

"We have also invited a constitutionalist, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, to give his observations on the constitutionality of the MLSA," said Sen. Manny Villar, chairman of the committee on foreign relations. Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. heads the defense committee.

Reyes expressed confidence that the protests against the accord, signed late last week between the Philippines and the United States, would eventually die down.

"I think in due time, after all the issues are left to surface, everybody will come to the conclusion that this is no big deal," he said.

Reyes pointed out that the MLSA critics, including left-leaning organizations, have not even studied the document, adding that most of the questions raised were "preconceived and even imagined concerns."

"They are objecting and attributing to certain things that are not in the agreement. They are reading more to the agreement than it deserves," Reyes said.

He indicated that he is willing to defend the constitutionality and legality of the MLSA before any forum.

For his part, Ople maintained that Congress had been briefed before the MLSA was signed.

In a statement, Ople said it was never the intention of the government to hide the pact from legislators.

"Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and I briefed an enlarged LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) meeting at Malacañang (on Aug. 6) on what we intended the MLSA to be, how it serves our interests and why it will be, in form and in substance, an executive agreement," he said.

The Senate is poised to scrutinize the MLSA to determine if it is a treaty which needs the senators’ ratification as mandated by the Constitution.

Ople, himself a former senator, said the lawmakers asked for a copy of the draft MLSA, but the request was denied since the document was still under negotiation by the technical working groups of both countries.

Ople insisted that it was the prerogative of the executive department to negotiate agreements with other countries in private, adding that "no self-respecting country will negotiate with the executive if we are to intentionally conduct negotiations in places other than the negotiating table."

"We showed that it was our intention to make sure that the content of the MLSA does not engage the Philippines in obligations of a substantive nature that would require it to be considered a treaty," he said.

With the MLSA now fully publicized, Ople said he is ready to answer all issues and concerns raised against it.

Ople pointed out that the MLSA specifically disallows the setting up of US military bases, facilities or permanent structures in the Philippines.

The government maintained that MLSA was merely designed to further firm up military cooperation between the Philippines and the US in the global war against terrorism.

The agreement, which will be effective for five years, will grant the US forces wider access to Philippine ports and facilities during anti-terrorism operations.

In Cagayan de Oro City, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza said the MLSA will be a big boost to the government’s fight against terrorism.

"The new RP-US agreement which centers around military logistics support enhances the effectiveness of both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US armed forces in the current transnational fight against terrorism," Dureza said in a statement.

He said the MLSA allows reciprocal logistic support between the two armed forces for duly approved and authorized joint military exercises and training programs.

It enables US forces to set up storage facilities for supplies such as ammunition, food, water and fuel, as well as lodging accommodations, transportation, communication and medical services.

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone hailed the signing of the MLSA, saying it is a "very good operational agreement that will allow us to buy goods and services from the government of the Philippines and vice versa."

Meanwhile, the military Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) plans to put up anti-MLSA billboards along Manila Bay as part of a protest action denouncing the agreement.

Pamalakaya leader Fernando Hicap said they will also burn 10 American flags representing five US officials and five Philippine officials instrumental in forging the MLSA. – With reports from Efren Danao, Sandy Araneta, Bong Fabe