Press Release
May 26, 2009

Pia urges probe on Balikatan funds mess, review of VFA

On eve of 10th anniversary of VFA ratification:

A day before the 10th anniversary of the ratification of the controversial US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Senator Pia S. Cayetano reiterated her call for a Senate inquiry on allegations of corruption surrounding the Balikatan military exercises in 1997 as exposed by a navy junior officer, Lt. Sg. Nancy Gadian.

In a privilege speech Tuesday, Cayetano also urged the chamber to immediately conduct a comprehensive review and consider the possible repeal of the VFA, ten years after it was ratified by the Senate on May 27, 1999 during the 11th Congress.

The Chairperson of the Senate Committee likewise called on the Senate leadership to take custody of the embattled navy officer who remains in hiding, despite the Supreme Court's recent issuance of a writ of amparo to ensure her safety.

"Mr. President, given the trend under the present administration to disregard statements of whistleblowers and to silence them, it is with extreme urgency that I call on the leadership of the Senate to take custody of Gadian," appealed Cayetano.

She said Gadian's disclosure that certain military officers, including then Westmincom chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, had misused Balikatan funds amounting to P46 million in 2007, apparently prompted Gadian's superiors to retaliate by ordering her investigation for alleged funds misuse and lavish spending in the 2007 Balikatan.

"The lavish spending, Mr. President, I was informed, refers to the additional P2,500 from the P12,500 hotel expense that Gadian incurred in excess of her allowed P10,000 budget," she noted in her speech.

But she questioned how Gadian's P2,500 additional expense could be considered "lavish spending" when ranged against the series of multi-million scandals that have hounded the Arroyo administration, including P6.9-million Euro generals scam, the P123-million spent on Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's eight-day trip to five different countries this year, as well as the unresolved P728-million fertilizer fund scam and $329-million NBN/ZTE deal.

"Incidentally, tomorrow, May 27, 2009, is the 10th Anniversary of the VFA, the legal instrument paving the way for the conduct of the Balikatan exercises. After its 10 years or existence, Mr. President, I believe it is all the more urgent and necessary to conduct an honest assessment and review of the VFA and the Balikatan exercises."

Cayetano is principal author of Senate Resolution 1071 which calls for an investigation into the Balikatan funds mess and co-author of Senate Resolution 892, "A Resolution Expressing the Sense of The Senate that the President of the Philippines Should Re-visit the Provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement and Accordingly Exercise the Right to Terminate the VFA Considering that Supervening Events Have Rendered the Provisions of the VFA as Contrary to the 1987 Philippine Constitution."

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