Miriam renews call to junk VFA
10/17/2010Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday reiterated her call to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), saying even though President Aquino is considering “refinements” to the controversial treaty, Congress can still unilaterally terminate the VFA.
The lawmaker was reacting to reports that Aquino has informed US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. of a plan to “refine” the VFA and “make it better.”
“The House of Representatives has already filed its own version of my resolution to terminate the VFA. What we need now is a public hearing and the approval of both houses of Congress. The chairs of the foreign relations committees of both houses should therefore prioritize these resolutions,” Santiago, in a statement, said.
Santiago filed Joint Resolution No. 3 expressing the sense of Congress as a whole to terminate the VFA, and directing the secretary of Foreign Affairs to give the notice of termination to the United States.
House Joint Resolution No. 7, similar to that of Santiago’s, was filed in the House of Representatives by militant congressmen..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20101017hed4.html
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