PRESS STATEMENT of SENATOR CHIZ ESCUDERO

ON VFA ABROGATION

I maintain my support to the Senate resolution calling for the abrogation of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) because of its one-sided provisions on criminal jurisdiction.

And if this agreement is being used to circumvent a constitutional proscription against having foreign military bases in the country and foreign troops engaging in actual combat, then the need to scrap it becomes even more significant.

Remembering Nicole and what happened to her case starkly reminds us of how these prejudiced stipulations carried a high social cost for our people and it is time for us to decisively put an end to this 10-year old agreement.

I call on my colleagues in the Senate to put the more important issues of social welfare and national sovereignty above that of military security. We cannot afford to have more Nicole before we realize that sovereignty should be absolute and non-negotiable.

ON OMBUDSMAN RULING ON NBN-ZTE SCANDAL

The Office of the Ombudsman has committed a grave moral mistake because the decision had conveniently left out the First Couple and instead settled for scapegoats in the persons of former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos and ex-NEDA chief Romulo Neri.

More than the legal aspects, the ZTE-NBN case impacts on the moral fiber of the national leadership.

I urge the Office of the Ombudsman to reconsider its resolution clearing President Arroyo and her husband of any involvement in the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal.

I believe that the controversies surrounding the case have not been exhaustively heard, and the witnesses and evidence against the alleged players have not been properly examined.

The most credible witness in the scandal, Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada, had been subjected to groundless and unwarranted persecution.

He risked his life and that of his family's in exposing a reprehensible transgression of the public trust, only to find out that his sacrifices will be rendered meaningless in the end.

The Office of the Ombudsman should not allow this iniquity to continue, where those who do good get wronged while those who abuse power elude accountability.