Aquino govt’s violations of Philippine sovereignty, the worst – CPP
Aside from allowing the US armed forces access to their former military bases, the Aquino government “allows the US FBI to interrogate prisoners in Camp Crame and use its custodial center in keeping foreign nationals it suspects of being “terrorists.”
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Sovereignty issues would hound the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III politically and legally. This is the projection of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The Philippine government may accuse the revolutionary groups led by the CPP as outside the fold of law (or of the Philippine Constitution), but the CCP seems to have an even worse counter-accusation— the Philippine government is in fact contemptuous of its own Constitution and laws.
As the Aquino regime “continues to allow the US military to increasingly intervene and operate within the Philippines, it is bound to be politically and legally confronted by issues of sovereignty,” the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said in a statement. The revolutionary group enumerated various issues where they say the Aquino government has trampled on Philippine sovereignty, in the process violating provisions even of its “own reactionary laws.”
These issues include providing the US warships and submarines with virtual open access to Philippine waters, “without consideration to the policy of freedom from nuclear weapons as provided for in the 1987 reactionary constitution.”
The United States’ advanced warships and submarines are reportedly nuclear-powered. On top of that, these are also widely believed to be armed with and capable of launching nuclear weapons.
The Philippine Constitution, on the other hand, is explicitly against the entry of nuclear weapons. But the Philippine government has little hope of enforcing it if the warships, aircrafts and troops it had invited to enter the Philippines can freely move around with their nuke via the US policy of “neither confirming nor denying” its presence. The CPP is encouraging patriotic Filipinos to continue questioning the said policy.
Another Aquino violation of Philippine sovereignty shows in this government’s “allowing the US armed forces to maintain a military base inside Philippine territory.” According to the CPP, the headquarters of the 700-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF)-Philippines is in an exclusive zone within Camp Navarro, the main camp of the AFP’s Western Command, in Zamboanga City. It is, in fact, the camp first visited by American Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he flew to the country early this month and checked on the AFP’s progress in counterinsurgency operations, for example.
American Gen. Dempsey with US troops at Camp Navarro in Zamboanga, Philippines. (Photo taken from Gen. Dempsey’s Facebook photo album of his Phil. visit/ bulatlat.com)
In practice, the JSOTF’s exclusive zone in Zamboanga is a military base, but it apparently exists without an appropriate treaty, violating “requirements set by the 1987 constitution covering foreign military bases, troops and facilities,” the CPP noted.
Aside from the JSOTF headquarters in Zamboanga, the US has been reportedly setting up and operating an intelligence infrastructure in the Philippines. It includes the likes of the mountain-top antennas, among others, which the US has reportedly set up during its “humanitarian missions” and “joint exercises” in the past several years. According to the CPP, these facilities which the US considers as its exclusive domain “are essentially US military facilities,” but where, it asked, is the “relevant agreement or treaty covering such facilities?”.... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/21/aquino-govt%E2%80%99s-violations-of-philippine-sovereignty-the-worst-%E2%80%93-cpp/
For
all that Noynoy and high court blabber of reforms and transparency now
being imbibed by a “reformed” Supreme Court as a result of the
conviction by the Senate court of the ousted Chief Justice Renato
Corona, the transparency promised is certainly absent, as gleaned from
the SC’s newly released guidelines in the matter of their statement of
assets, liabilities and networth (SALn).
Filipinos
have enough problems of our own than add to the already swirling burden
in our minds. But dwelling on international controversies cannot be
helped especially with the recent announced “rebalancing” of US military
and naval forces in the Asia-Pacific, where there had been no tension
of major significance insofar as that imperial power’s homeland security
is concerned.
The
first time I wrote about Dolphy here in this space had to do with the
launching of his tell-all autobiography, in 2008. But that wasn’t the
first time we had worked together, for he had appeared in Aawitan Kita
on television, many, many years ago. He recalls having quit smoking in
1975, so his guesting in my show could only have been anywhere between
1970 and 1974, for the one picture still I have of that afternoon has
him holding on to a cigarette. 
