Enrile warns of repercussions if Senate won't concur with SOVFA

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warned yesterday of repercussions if the Senate fails to give its concurrence on Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) between Australia and the Philippines.

Enrile said that Senate concurrence on the ratification of SOVFA is badly needed now that the country’s defense has to be beefed up following the Philippine’s conflict with China over Scarborough Shoal.

“We need more allies as we work on our own capacity to improve our own defense,” Enrile said over dzBB.

“The repercussions will be huge if the SOVFA is not ratified. Australia is a friendly country, we have a big trade partnership with them and they were our ally when we fought in the last World War. It would be like abandoning a friend who has helped you for the longest time,” he said.

“It will be a very hard issue for us to face… and the signal of its impact will be huge as well,” Enrile explained.

Enrile said it would be up to Malacañang to work with allies in the Senate to campaign for its concurrence.  “It’s an administration measure,” he said.

According to Senate foreign relations committee chairperson Loren Legarda, President Aquino told her during the vin d’honneur in Malacañang the need for the Senate to concur with the agreement.

“All he said was, thank you for sponsoring SOVFA because it was really important,” she said.

“It’s up to Malacañang now… It’s up to them and their allies if they want to pass it. Otherwise, I am just going to do my job… That’s the dynamism of what the Senate is,” Legarda said.

The Senate failed to concur with the passage of before Congress went into sine die adjournment early this month. Seven senators including Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Joker Arroyo objected to the SOVFA.

Enrile is baffled why Santiago is against SOVFA when she voted in favor of the VFA between the United States and the Philippines.

“(It’s) Either you ratify or not,” Enrile said.  “We are the ones who needed it.”

In the VFA between the United States and the Philippines, Legarda explained that she voted against the agreement because it had no provision on the cleanup of toxic wastes in Clark and Subic and lacked clear guidelines for criminal jurisdiction.

Legarda said she is pushing for SOVFA now because it is an improved version of the VFA with the US.  “We especially need this now,” she said.

Legarda added that there is also a different security situation and geo-political landscape in the country today compared to 1999. “There is a different threat then and now,” she said.

SOVFA was ratified by the Australian parliament, and non-concurrence by the Philippines might strain the relations between the two countries, Legarda said.

She noted that the Philippines does not have enough resources to modernize the AFP and SOVFA will greatly help Philippine soldiers who will be given opportunity to train and study alongside their Australian counterparts.

Provisions to ensure that the Philippines will have an advantage on the issue of criminal jurisdiction were also included in the SOVFA to avoid a repeat of the case of US Corporal Daniel Smith, who was accused of raping a Filipina in 2005. Smith was eventually acquitted after the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the lower court and ordered his immediate release.