MANILA - Administration standard-bearer Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Thursday opposed the call of activists and some legislators to abrogate the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

“I do not advocate the abrogation of the VFA. I am for the ratification of SOVFA (Status of Visiting Forces Agreement) with Australia. I am for entering into more alliances with more countries so that confidence building between and among its armed forces can be had,” Teodoro said in Thursday's House hearing on the P57.69-billion budget of the Department of National Defense (DND).

“It's a good thing. Military training exercises, military cooperation is good. It builds confidence among combined troops, which lessens the tendency to result to aggression in case their countries have differences,” he added.

Teodoro was responding to questions raised by Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant party-list group, Bayan Muna, on whether he thought the VFA violates Philippine sovereignty.

The VFA allows US troops to stay in the Philippines up to six months for military training exercises with local troops. Ocampo also argued that the VFA allows the Philippines to be the “extension of their (US) arena of war.”

Asked how long US troops can stay in the Philippines under the VFA, Teodoro said: “As long as opportunities for joint training, as long as there is a situation where our counter-insurgency capabilities must be beefed up, and as long as the treaty remains valid, then their presence is legally unquestionable.”

“It's a paradigm in the whole world. Troops must train and visit with each other. Singapore, for example. One-third of its armed force is abroad most of the time, a lot of it in the United States. It's not a derogation of American sovereignty either. Troops should be given a chance to work together, to train together, “ Teodoro said.

“Soldiers do not make wars, politicians do,” he added.

Benefits from military agreements

Teodoro argued that the benefits from military treaties with the USA go beyond traditional military services.

“Last year, when typhoon Frank struck, 300 or more sorties were flown by US helicopters in order to bring relief goods to most far-flung areas of Iloilo, which was devastated. Non-traditional military purposes, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response, which even China, during the Sichuan earthquake, accepted,” he said.

Ocampo, in response, said: “Thank you for the frank answers, although they do not fully satisfy me.”

The activist solons took the rare opportunity at the budget hearing to dialogue with the defense secretary and air their concerns against the military.