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MANILA, Philippines -- Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo should quit for allegedly surrendering the country?s sovereignty by signing an agreement with US Ambassador Kristie Kenney allowing convicted rapist Daniel Smith?s detention at the American embassy, the dean of a law school said Wednesday.
?The problem is, our own DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs], surrendered this sovereignty of ours. That?s why?Romulo should resign to show not just [that he is] accepting responsibility for this kind of debacle but also to show to the US that we are serious with?the value that we put on our sovereignty. Our position and our life are at stake if we cannot enforce our own sovereignty,? Amado Valdez, dean of the University of the East (UE) College of Law said at a media forum.
?If we take Smith back from the US government, it would create an international incident. But what strength do we have to take him back? What Secretary Romulo did was itself, the reason for this scandalous situation. You assert sovereignty and the US will also assert its duty to protect its own soldier because they are responsible to their people,? Valdez said.
On February 11, the Supreme Court ruled that Smith should be returned to Philippine custody even as it upheld the constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), and ordered the DFA to negotiate with the US where the Marine lance corporal should be kept.
But the negotiations have yet to open as the US embassy said it was consulting legal experts in Washington.
Malacañang, for its part, has also said it will appeal the high court decision, maintaining that the agreement between Romulo and Kenney, which the tribunal declared unconstitutional, was valid.
The continued detention of Smith in the embassy has prompted calls from several quarters, including a resolution at the Senate, to scrap the VFA.
Valdez said another problem is the ?colonial mindset? of the VFA?s implementers, particularly the DFA.
?The bone of contention, as far as I?m concerned, is in the mindset as far as the implementation of the VFA. But as long as we need each other, then we should have some kind of agreement that will regulate?but the implementation must be in accordance with Philippine sovereignty,? he said.
?The mindset of our DFA is still colonial?some people at the DFA will be thinking of the possible study grant coming from the US, or thinking of some kind of honors from the US,? he said, as he stressed the need for government to have the ?political will? to assert the country?s sovereignty over Smith.
Citing provisions of the VFA, Valdez said that Smith should be detained in a Philippine-run detention facility, not the US embassy.
?Under Section 10 [of the VFA], it is very clear that the place of confinement and detention [of Smith] should be under Philippine authority,? he said.
The role of the US in Smith?s detention, Valdez said, should be to ensure the convict is detained in a safe, relatively comfortable environment where there are no threats to his life.
