The Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement
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PR-055-09, 15 February 2009—The Philippine Government welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court in Nicolas vs. Romulo where the constitutionality and validity of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was re- affirmed.
This is the third time that the Supreme Court has re-affirmed the VFA’s constitutionality and validity.
The first time the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality and validity of the VFA was in the previous administration, in the case of Bayan vs. Zamora (Executive Secretary) in 2000.
The second time that the Supreme Court again ruled on the constitutionality and validity of the VFA was in Lim vs. Executive Secretary (E.S Romulo) in 2002.
The Government is duty bound to abide and implement the ruling of the recent Supreme Court decision in Nicolas vs. Romulo, Ermita, Puno et al.
In this decision, the Supreme Court also ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with the US government on the detention facility under Philippine authorities for detainee Daniel Smith.
As ordered, the Department of Foreign Affairs is now in consultation with the Office of the Solicitor General, the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior and Local Government and other related agencies to implement the order.
In a press statement, the ponente, Justice Adolf Azcuna, stated the following: “The US is not a party to the case. The Court ordered Romulo to negotiate. This is the procedure. We cannot order the US to negotiate. What we can order is the Philippine side.” END
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