PALACE-SENATE ACCORD ON TREATIES

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has agreed in principle that henceforth, all negotiating panel for treaties like the controversial MOA-AD should include at least one member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that the accord was reached, when she and President Arroyo discussed the constitutional issues arising from the MOA-AD and the Jpepa.

“President Arroyo accepts that since the Senate has to concur with her ratification, the Senate should play an active role in treaty negotiations, at least with respect to constitutional and other issues,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that at a meeting in Malacañang last Friday, August 29, President Arroyo said she had issued instructions that the MOA-AD shall not be signed at all.

“That will preempt the declared intent of some Christian and Ilaga leaders in Muslim Mindanao to arm themselves, in anticipation of Muslim marauders in their communities,” the senator said.

Santiago said that under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, care should have been taken in drafting the MOA.

“If signed, the MOA would become part of the preparatory documents that constitute the context of any treaty. As part of the context, it is considered as a guide to the interpretation of the treaty itself. Thus, it is significant,” she said.

Santiago said the mere terminology used – “Memorandum of Agreement” – was already unfortunate.

“The title of the document should have been more neutral. Since it was so unequivocal, it immediately raised a furor,” she said.

The Senate said that even if the MOA is characterized as a political question, the Supreme Court would still have the power to acquire jurisdiction, if it can be shown that there was grave abuse of discretion on the part of executive officials.

“In the United States, it has been a long-standing practice to invite senators belonging to the Senate foreign relations committee to join the negotiating panel, so that the senators can anticipate what problems the treaty might raise in the Senate. Thus, verbal booby traps can be avoided,” she said.

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