SENATOR ASSERTS PHILIPPINE JURISDICTION OVER US MILITARY PERSONNEL IN THE VFA
Senator Richard Gordon today expressed utmost concern on the alleged rape of a 22-year old Filipino woman by five US military personnel. The accused personnel were reportedly taking a break at Subic Bay Freeport from the joint RP-US military exercises of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) when the incident happened.
“The suspects must answer and account for the rape charged against them. If they are indeed guilty, then they should be made liable,” said Gordon adding that the VFA “is not meant to favor US military personnel. The aim of the VFA is to promote the common security interests of the Philippines and the US, and to strengthen international and regional security in the pacific area.”
Article 5 of the VFA embodies terms on Criminal Jurisdiction and there have been apprehensions on whether the Philippines can indeed exercise jurisdiction over offenses committed by US military personnel in its territory. To this, Gordon replied
“The subject matter here is an alleged criminal offense punishable under our laws and committed within the Philippine territory. Definitely, the Philippines has jurisdiction, especially so when the offense occurred when the US military personnel was off-duty.”
Gordon said the incident is a setback to the VFA because it disturbs the focus of the security agreement and hinders its actual purpose which is to strengthen the security capacity of our military forces. “I am glad to see that the US authorities detained the five military personnel and let their ship leave without them. We are all hoping for the swift conclusion of the case and for justice to be served to the aggrieved party,” said Gordon.
According to Gordon, who is a member of the Legislative Oversight Committee of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the VFA gives us the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over US personnel with respect to offenses committed within the Philippines and punishable under the law of the Philippines.
“We have jurisdiction because we are a sovereign state. We did not give away part of our sovereignty in the VFA. We only agreed to strengthen our bilateral defense partnership with the US as embodied in 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty through the VFA, which by the way we can terminate at will simply by giving notice in writing to the other party which shall be effective after 180 days. We continue to pursue an independent foreign policy under the Constitution where national sovereignty, territorial integrity,
national interest, and the right to self-determination are of paramount consideration in our relations with other states.” Gordon said.
The senator added that he is confident that if the US personnel will be proven guilty, they will be convicted accordingly. He recalled that in 1984, during the time when he was still Mayor of Olongapo City, when a US Marine serviceman was proven to have killed a Filipino, the suspect was sentenced with 35 years imprisonment and was ordered to pay damages to the son of the victim.
“The suspects must answer and account for the rape charged against them. If they are indeed guilty, then they should be made liable,” said Gordon adding that the VFA “is not meant to favor US military personnel. The aim of the VFA is to promote the common security interests of the Philippines and the US, and to strengthen international and regional security in the pacific area.”
Article 5 of the VFA embodies terms on Criminal Jurisdiction and there have been apprehensions on whether the Philippines can indeed exercise jurisdiction over offenses committed by US military personnel in its territory. To this, Gordon replied
“The subject matter here is an alleged criminal offense punishable under our laws and committed within the Philippine territory. Definitely, the Philippines has jurisdiction, especially so when the offense occurred when the US military personnel was off-duty.”
Gordon said the incident is a setback to the VFA because it disturbs the focus of the security agreement and hinders its actual purpose which is to strengthen the security capacity of our military forces. “I am glad to see that the US authorities detained the five military personnel and let their ship leave without them. We are all hoping for the swift conclusion of the case and for justice to be served to the aggrieved party,” said Gordon.
According to Gordon, who is a member of the Legislative Oversight Committee of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the VFA gives us the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over US personnel with respect to offenses committed within the Philippines and punishable under the law of the Philippines.
“We have jurisdiction because we are a sovereign state. We did not give away part of our sovereignty in the VFA. We only agreed to strengthen our bilateral defense partnership with the US as embodied in 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty through the VFA, which by the way we can terminate at will simply by giving notice in writing to the other party which shall be effective after 180 days. We continue to pursue an independent foreign policy under the Constitution where national sovereignty, territorial integrity,
national interest, and the right to self-determination are of paramount consideration in our relations with other states.” Gordon said.
The senator added that he is confident that if the US personnel will be proven guilty, they will be convicted accordingly. He recalled that in 1984, during the time when he was still Mayor of Olongapo City, when a US Marine serviceman was proven to have killed a Filipino, the suspect was sentenced with 35 years imprisonment and was ordered to pay damages to the son of the victim.
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