The Honorable Chairpersons of the Oversight Committee
The Honorable Members of both Houses of Congress
Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto G. Romulo, who is in Busan, Korea for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, I would like to thank your Honors for this opportunity for my Department and other agencies to brief the Committee on developments related to the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the alleged rape incident in Subic on 1 November.

This Opening Statement covers some issues that are the subject of on-going, sensitive diplomatic consultations. Should the committee wish to hear elaboration these few specific items, the Department of Foreign Affairs respectfully requests that it be done in an Executive Session.

At the outset, Secretary Alberto Romulo issued instructions to the Presidential Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACOM), which he co-chairs with the Secretary of National Defense, for the said Commission to fully assist the victim and support all efforts by our authorities to investigate, prosecute and try this case.  He also assured that the Philippine government will pursue the matter with vigor and in accordance with our laws and treaty obligations.

Since then the Department has been in close coordination with the Department of Justice on the diplomatic and international law aspects of the case, and continues to work closely with the latter Department to ensure that justice is served and that the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Embassy in Manila,  complies with its treaty obligations under the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement.

The Department of Foreign Affairs asked the US Embassy to make certain  that the US military personnel involved in the alleged incident do not leave the country. As the Philippines has asserted its primary right of jurisdiction over the case, our authorities (investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial) would like the suspects to be available to their processes, in accordance with Philippine law. The Department formally reiterated this request recently. The US Embassy has kept the said suspects in the country, and showed them recently to an official of the VFACom.

The Department also communicated its position to the US authorities that the one-year period mentioned in Article V, Paragraph 6, within which US authorities are obligated to make available the US military personnel for judicial proceedings, commences only when the court acquires jurisdiction over the persons of the accused.  Thus, the period pertaining to the investigative and preliminary investigation phases are not included.

The Department of Foreign Affairs stands ready to facilitate access to the material evidence that may be available in the US side. Mutual assistance in providing for the attendance of witnesses and the gathering of evidence is stipulated in Article V, Paragraph 7 of the VFA. Thus, the DFA forwarded yesterday to the US Embassy the request of the private counsel of the victim, Ms. Katrina Legarda, thru the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for authenticated copies of the personal identity card and similar records of the suspects. We look forward to facilitating future requests of this nature.

The Department is also in consultations with the US embassy on the turnover of custody of the suspected US military personnel.

The Department will continue to work closely with the appropriate Philippine authorities to ensure that justice is served.

END