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01-05-07, 02:43 PM

Opposition eyes new impeach bid vs GMA over Smith transfer

The Philippine Star 01/06/2007

[AD] The opposition will choose the best congressional bets for the May elections to regain control of the House of Representatives and initiate new impeachment proceedings against President Arroyo for violation of the Constitution after the administration transferred custody of convicted rapist US Marines Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to the US Embassy.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of the United Opposition, said opposition bets for the House will have to pass a rigid scrutiny by the UNO board of convenors to choose the best bets.

Opposition leaders said that Mrs. Arroyo violated the Constitution when she ordered the transfer of Smith, 21, of St. Louis, Missouri, who was convicted last Dec. 4 of raping a Filipina identified only as "Nicole."

Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon found the Marine guilty of raping Nicole, 23, inside a moving van at the former US naval base in Subic on Nov. 1, 2005.

Smith was sentenced to 40 years in prison and was ordered by Pozon to be detained at the Makati City Jail pending the appeal of the conviction.

Jose Justiniano, Smith’s lawyer, had filed a motion at the Court of Appeals seeking the transfer of Smith from the Makati jail to the custody of the US Embassy while his lawyers mount an appeal which is within the provisions of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Justiniano said under the VFA his client should be placed under the custody of the US embassy until the completion of judicial proceedings.

Despite the pending case at the appellate court, officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government that supervises local jails, took Smith from the Makati jail and brought him to the US embassy where he is now detained pending the outcome of his appeals in court.

The Court of Appeals upheld last Jan. 3 the transfer of Smith to the US embassy, but stressed that it was right for a Makati City court to order his detention in a local jail while the negotiations over his custody were ongoing.

It was a decision for which all parties involved claimed victory.

In a 38-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr., the CA Special 16th Division said Smith could be held "in the US Embassy or in any other place within the Philippine territory."

But with Smith now at the embassy, the CA declared as "moot" the petition of his lawyers for his transfer to US custody from the Makati jail.

The opposition said Mrs. Arroyo’s order to the DILG to transfer Smith without a court order is illegal and violated the Constitution and is an impeachable offense.

An UNO member who attended the opposition group’s meeting yesterday at the Club Filipino in San Juan, said the last impeachment case against Mrs. Arroyo did not prosper at the House because the opposition congressmen were outvoted by pro-administration lawmakers.

"We have no other way of getting GMA impeached but by getting enough numbers in Congress and the only way to achieve such an objective is to field the best and brightest candidates for the congressional seats with better winnability," said the UNO official who refused to be identified.

At least 80 votes of congressmen are needed to impeach Mrs. Arroyo.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon urged Malacañang to convene the National Security Council if it intends to review the VFA following the controversy over the custody of Smith.

Biazon said the review, if done through the NSC, would be the best idea because it would be able to secure the inputs of various sectors including the legislature and the members of the political opposition.

He explained that the VFA review is a national security issue and so the NSC would be the proper body to do this.

The NSC is chaired by the President and has among its members the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the chairpersons of the appropriate committees in Congress, the majority and minority leaders of Congress and the other Cabinet officials.

"If they want a fast review, officially, it is time for the NSC to be convened to tackle such a proposition," Biazon said.

Malacañang maintained that the VFA can be reviewed anytime by both sides and would be done without prejudice to the case of Smith. Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said the government will honor the present VFA, including its provisions governing the custody of an American or Filipino military personnel accused of a crime.

"The review is not connected with Smith’s case because Smith’s case will be in direct conformity with the present VFA," Defensor said.

Biazon pointed out that any amendments to the VFA that may arise during the review would have to go through the United States for its concurrence in order to take effect.

Only the abrogation of the VFA could be done by the Philippine government unilaterally but Biazon noted that this has not yet been raised as an option.

"Amendments cannot be unilaterally done by the Philippine government. It will need a concurrence from the US government," Biazon said.

Biazon said that a review is justified considering that the reasons behind the ratification of the VFA by the Senate in 1999 are no longer relevant.

He recalled that during the debates on the VFA during the administration of then President Fidel Ramos, the primary consideration was the Philippines’ claim over a portion of the Spratlys Islands in the South China Sea.

Biazon noted that at that time China built fortifications around the Kalayaan Island group, which was already claimed by the Philippines, thus it created a legitimate security concern for the country.

"That was a compelling issue at that time. Now the question is the situation today, as far as national security is concerned, relative to our claim to Kalayaan, the same in 1996 all the way up to 1999 when the VFA was ratified by the Senate," Biazon said.

Biazon said that the government could also clear up some gray areas in the VFA during the review such as the issue of custody which caused a controversy recently with the conviction of Smith.

Lanao Rep. Benasing Macarambon called on senators to improve the VFA.

Macarambon said he is also looking forward to the convening of the foreign affairs committees of Rep. Antonio Cuenco and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to review the VFA.

"We hope the oversight panel led by Santiago and Cuenco would be able to start its work before the end of the month or early February," Macarambon said.

Antique Rep. Exequiel Javier proposed that the VFA provisions that should be amended are those under the VFA’s Article 5, involving criminal jurisdiction on offenses committed by US personnel in the Philippines. - Marvin Sy, Non Alquitran, Delon Porcalla

Ellie