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Abrogate VFA

Innabuyog and GABRIELA, the largest alliance of women’s organizations in the Philippines, fully support the legal move of the 22-year old Subic rape victim who, together with her lawyer Atty. Evalyn Ursua, filed an Omnibus Motion before the Olongapo City Court to question the constitutionality of Article V, paragraph 6 of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), to assert the issuance of an alias warrant of arrest, and for the deferment of arraignment until questions of custody and jurisdiction are finally settled.

We laud the victim and her lawyer for doing the most appropriate thing for now and that is to question the constitutionality of certain VFA provisions.

This move also brings us all back to the most glaring reality: that VFA is an onerous agreement designed to protect the visiting US troops. It derogates and infringes not only the exclusive power of the Supreme Court to promulgate rules of procedure as provided under the 1987 Constitution, but also violates the right of the victim to due process and to equal protection of the laws.

We believe that only through the abrogation of this agreement can the victim fully obtain justice. If the court will work under the VFA framework, where judicial proceedings are limited to one year, then justice will become more elusive to the victim.

We all know how our judicial system works: usad-pagong (turtle-paced). We are also considering the legal maneuvers and delaying tactics of the defense that would prolong the proceedings. Worse, the Arroyo government displays a lukewarm attitude in the prosecution of the suspects.

We, in GABRIELA, maintain our demand that the four US marines should be first put under the custody of the Philippine government in order for them to face trial while ensuring that there will be no whitewash.

More importantly, we call on Congress to act for the abrogation of the VFA. Only through these measures that we can ensure that justice for the victim will be served. #

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