Press Release
November 10, 2015

COUNTER-ARGUMENTS RE EDCA

In lieu of an interpellation Mr. President, I manifest my opposition with all due respect to our esteemed colleague to the adoption of proposed Resolution 1414 because I believe the EDCA is not a treaty or international agreement.

The EDCA was intended by the Philippines and the United States to be an Executive Agreement to implement their respective obligations under 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the two (2) countries, the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) which is a treaty concurred in by the Senate and which has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and the United Nations Charter, of which both the Philippines and the United States are signatories.

In a matter of speaking, the EDCA is merely an implementing agreement, which is intended to implement the rights and obligations already previously provided under the Mutual Defense Treaty, the VFA and the UN Charter.

No new rights or obligations are created under EDCA. The EDCA merely amplifies and provides implementing details as to how the parties may exercise such rights and obligations, in view of the prevailing circumstances.

The EDCA is no different from the Mutual Logistic Support Agreement which was signed in November 2007 and this same agreement between the United States government and the Philippines was not ratified by this august chamber and I believe most of the senators present allowed such a condition, and in fact the MLSA expired back in 2012 without having to go through the same scrutiny that we intend this EDCA, so that's just the humble manifestation Mr. President of this Representation.

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