GLORIA RING SQUEEZED INTO G-20 AGENDA

Obama calls, reminds Arroyo of ‘mutual’ pact

By Michaela del Callar and Riza Recio

03/15/2009

In what appears to be a subtle pressure after the Palace earlier had indicted it would keep an “open mind” for the renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), US President Barack Obama appears to have squeezed in yesterday the long sought telephone call to President Arroyo to remind her of continuing with the enforcement of the mutual agreement.

United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney earlier had expressed the US government position that “any move to review the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is premature” until the custody issue of convicted rapist US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith is resolved.

The Supreme Court, last month, ordered without giving any timeframe, the transfer of Smith to Philippine custody but both Manila and Washington have declared a status quo on the matter.

US officials in Manila said Smith will remain in their custody until it receives an order from Washington to turn him over to the Philippine government.

Aside from Mrs. Arroyo, Obama called up the leaders of Indonesia, Saudi

Arabia and Argentina, who are members of the Group of 20 (G-20), yesterday to discuss cooperation in resolving the global economic turmoil, among other issues.

The Philippines is not a member of the G-20 group of major world economies.

Obama will meet the leaders of the three countries, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez at the Group of 20 nations summit next month in London focused on the global financial meltdown.

A Palace statement said Mrs. Arroyo and Obama have agreed to continue enforcing the VFA amid calls for the abrogation of the treaty due to the US government’s refusal to turn over an American serviceman charged of raping a Filipino woman to Philippine custody.

A White House statement on March 13 said both leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to the long-standing US-Philippines alliance, including the Visiting Forces Agreement, which remains critical to the bilateral relationship” and to the two countries’ strategic interests.

The VFA, which was ratified in 1999, is an accord that covers the treatment, such as the exit and entry procedures, of US troops who are in the Philippines for bilateral military exercises with the Philippine Armed Forces.

Several groups had called for the abolition of the pact following the conviction by a lower court of Smith in 2006 for the rape of a Filipino woman in the former US military base in Subic Bay in Olongapo, Zambales in 2005.

Smith is detained at the US Embassy pending the completion of all legal procedures that includes a final Supreme Court ruling on his case.

It was not known if Obama, who initiated the call Friday (Saturday in Manila), asked Mrs. Arroyo to let Smith remain in the custody of the US Embassy.

This is the second phone conversation between the two leaders, the first one was when Obama returned Mrs. Arroyo’s phone call after he won the presidency.

Palace officials seemed “overjoyed” by the phone call by Obama after the President’s several failed attempts to get a personal audience with the US leader during her official trips in the US.

According to the White House, Obama commended Arroyo on her country’s efforts in countering terrorism and modernizing the armed forces.

It added that the two leaders discussed the need to work closely together on the global economic crisis as well as on other areas of common concern, including climate change, education, and interfaith dialogue.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde spoke glowingly of the phone conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and Obama saying that the conversation was very important and lasted “quite long.”

President Arroyo, however, had repeatedly missed holding a personal meeting with Obama, the last time was when she flew to Washington to attend the National Prayer Day but was not able even to shake hands with US President, who was the guest of honor of the prayer event.

The government has been forced to defend the treaty, which keeps US troops under American legal jurisdiction in most cases, as anger simmered over the US embassy’s refusal to hand over a marine convicted of raping a Filipino woman.

The embassy has refused to submit to the Supreme Court order to return Smith to Philippine custody. Smith was sentenced to 40 years for the rape of the woman, whom he met at a bar at the former US naval base in Subic Bay north of Manila. When Smith was sent to a Philippine prison, Washington called off large-scale military exercises in protest, forcing Manila to transfer him to a detention facility inside the US embassy.

For the past two years Smith has been held by the embassy under a “temporary custodial arrangement,” awaiting an appeal. But the Supreme Court told the government to regain custody of Smith while his case remains on appeal.

The Philippines is a military ally of the United States in Asia, and US forces are periodically in the insurgency-hit southern island of Mindanao for anti-terrorism training.

The White House said Obama commended Arroyo over her efforts to battle terrorism and modernize the armed forces.

“The two leaders discussed the need to work closely together on the global economic crisis as well as on other areas of common concern, including climate change, education, and interfaith dialog,” the statement said.

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