Lim vs Executive Secretary

G.R. No. 151445 April 11, 2002

DE LEON, JR., J.:

FACTS:
Personnel from the armed forces of the United States of America started arriving in
Mindanao to take part, in conjunction with the Philippine military, in "Balikatan 02-1." These so-
called "Balikatan" exercises are the largest combined training operations involving Filipino and
American troops pursuant to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). In theory, they are a
simulation of joint military maneuvers pursuant to the Mutual Defense Treaty,1 a bilateral
defense agreement entered into by the Philippines and the United States.
In line with this, petitioners Arthur D. Lim and Paulino P. Ersando filed this petition for
certiorari and prohibition, attacking the constitutionality of the joint exercise. Lim and Ersando
filed suit in their capacities as citizens, lawyers and taxpayers. They were joined subsequently by
SANLAKAS and PARTIDO NG MANGGAGAWA, both party-Iist organizations, who filed a
petition-in-intervention.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the petition and the petition-in-intervention should prosper.

RULING:
No, the VFA permits United States personnel to engage, on an impermanent basis, in
"activities," the exact meaning of which was left undefined. The expression is ambiguous,
permitting a wide scope of undertakings subject only to the approval of the Philippine
government. The sole encumbrance placed on its definition is couched in the negative, in that
United States personnel must "abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of this
agreement, and in particular, from any political activity." From the perspective of public
international law, a treaty is favored over municipal law pursuant to the principle of pacta sunt
servanda. Hence, "every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed
by them in good faith." Further, a party to a treaty is not allowed to "invoke the provisions of its
internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty."