Manila, Philippines (April 27, 2015) Philippine marines assigned to the 67th Company Marine Special Operations Group with U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 in training aboard a riverine patrol boat during Balikatan 2015. Balikatan, which means “shoulder to shoulder” in Filipino, is an annual bilateral training exercise aimed at improving the ability of Philippine and U.S. military forces to work together during planning, contingency, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. The Philippines also plans to have similar exercises with Japan, a former World War II occupier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Scott/Released)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Supreme Court (SC) deferred anew the voting on the constitutionality of the Philippines-United States Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca), with deliberations expected to resume next month.
The high court did not make any official announcement on the case at a press conference Wednesday morning, but sources privy to what transpired during the special en banc session said deliberations would continue early January.
Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), among petitioners against the deal, held a rally outside the Supreme Court amid rains as deliberations went on, keeping watch of the results. They later dispersed upon getting word that there was no official update.
The high court’s ruling has been highly anticipated as it would seal the fate of the contentious defense pact, signed as an executive agreement between Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg in April last year, just before US President Barack Obama’s overnight state visit in Manila.
The pact would allow increased rotational presence of US troops in the Philippines, an accommodation that Bayan said would lead to de facto permanent basing.
But government has been defending Edca’s status as an agreement and not a treaty that would need Senate concurrence as it serves as an implementing pact of the1999 PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement and the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).
The agreement, according to government, would give more opportunities for joint military exercises between Filipino and American troops both in the areas of mutual defense and disaster response. (MNS)