Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EN BANC
[ G.R. No. 151445. April 11, 2002 ]
DECISION
Prior to the year 2002, the last "Balikatan" was held in 1995.
This was due to the paucity of any formal agreement relative to
the treatment of United States personnel visiting the Philippines.
In the meantime, the respective governments of the two
countries agreed to hold joint exercises on a reduced scale. The
lack of consensus was eventually cured when the two nations
concluded the Visiting Forces Agreement (V FA) in 1999.
2
I. POLICY LEVEL
1. TRAINING
b. RP and US participating
forces may share, in
accordance with their
respective laws and
regulations, in the use of
their resources, equipment
and other assets. They will
use their respective logistics
channels.
3. PUBLIC AFFAIRS
a. Combined RP-US
Information Bureaus shall be
established at the Exercise
Directorate in Zamboanga
City and at GHQ, AFP in
Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon
City.
c. Socio-Economic Assistance
Projects shall be planned and
executed jointly by RP and
US Forces in accordance
with their respective laws
and regulations, and in
consultation with community
and local government
officials.
II
Article 31
General rule of interpretation
Article 32
Supplementary means of interpretation
Article 2
In the same manner, both the Mutual Defense Treaty and the
Visiting Forces Agreement, as in all other treaties and
international agreements to which the Philippines is a party,
must be read in the context of the 1987 Constitution. In
particular, the Mutual Defense Treaty was concluded way before
the present Charter, though it nevertheless remains in effect as
a valid source of international obligation. The present
Constitution contains key provisions useful in determining the
extent to which foreign military troops are allowed in Philippine
territory. Thus, in the Declaration of Principles and State
Policies, it is provided that:
SO ORDERED.