VFA Works to Foster Servility, Prostitution and Corruption

We from the Bikolano Aliance for Nationalism against Balikatan (BAN BALIKATAN) very much disagree with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The only things that work in the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is that it fosters the US trampling on our sovereignty, prostitution, more human rights violations and now even corruption.

In fact we were calling on the Senate and the House of Representatives to investigate the corruption exposed by former Lieutenant Nancy Gadian, former officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Civil Military Operations (CMO) Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) in the 2007 Balikatan Exercises in Jolo, Sulu. She accused Lt. General Eugenio Cedo, the former chief of the Westmincom along with other military officials of misusing at least P40 million of the P46 million training fund. She added that senior officers from all over the country are fighting over where the Balikatan exercises are to be held because they are using the Balikatan as a milking cow, while it is the junior officers who are always left on a limb. The Court of Appeals should immediately grant Gadian's plea for a writ of amparo. Furthermore the Senate and/or Congress should look into this new scandal post haste and place Lt. Gadian under protective custody because her life is definitely in danger considering she is up against the pillars of the AFP.

The recent Balikatan here in Bikol had the US military allot at least $22 million and the Senate should scrutinize where all this money went. It should also probe if the Philippine government spent more money for the security and accommodations of the US troops than what the US gave under their disguised “humanitarian missions”.

The arguments against VFA and the Balikatan are still increasing, making it more imperative for the onerous treaty to be immediately scrapped before it causes more trouble.

PROF. JOCELYN BISUÑA
Spokesperson