In light of renewed calls to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a U.S. embassy spokesperson said the issue has been referred to concerned U.S. officials.
 
"The VFA concerns important and complicated legal issues. We have referred the issue to the U.S. government legal experts in Washington and are consulting with [Philippine] authorities as well," US embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson said in a text message to ABS-CBN.
 
Thompson maintained, however, that convicted rapist U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, the subject of a custody battle between the U.S. and Philippine authorities, will remain under the custody of the U.S. embassy in Manila. She said Smith is still detained at the main U.S. embassy compound in accordance with the VFA.
 
Smith was convicted in 2006 of raping 'Nicole', a Filipina, at the Subic Bay Freeport, but still remains in the custody of the United States despite moves by the government to turn him over to Philippine authorities.

Nicole's lawyer, Atty. Evalyn Ursua, meanwhile, announced that Nicole had moved to the U.S. before the custody battle could be resolved.

Lopsided VFA provisions
 
Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Monday said that 10 senators are calling for the treaty's abrogation and are pushing for informal discussions about the VFA's "lopsided" provisions.
 
"There are gaps in this agreement, and now it is showing its ugly face in the custody battle for [U.S. Marine Lance Corporal] Daniel Smith. It's shameful that you have a convicted rapist who happens to be a foreigner and is in the custody of the US embassy. We're going to have to assert our sovereignty here," he said earlier in an interview on News at 8.
 
Pangilinan had also cited a two-pronged plan for scrapping the VFA, including sending a notice of termination to the US, as provided under the VFA, and pushing President Arroyo and the Department of Foreign Affairs to renegotiate the VFA's provisions.
 
Pangilinan had earlier criticized President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for wasting the opportunity to bring up important VFA issues during a courtesy phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama Friday last week. Obama and Arroyo discussed issues of common interest, including the mutual defense treaty and the global economic crisis.