SC asked to issue declaration Senate nod required in termination of treaties

Several senators personally went to the Supreme Court on Monday, March 9, to ask the High Court to issue a declaration requiring the concurrence of 2/3 of the Senate in the termination of treaties./Moira Encina/Eagle News/

(Eagle News) — Several senators on Monday, March 9, asked the Supreme Court to declare that the withdrawal from a treaty or an international agreement requires the concurrence of 2/3 of all members of the upper chamber for it to be valid.

In the petition for declaratory relief and mandamus personally filed by Senate President Tito Sotto, Senator Richard Gordon, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Panfilo Lacson before the Supreme Court, the senators also asked the High Court to issue an order directing the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Department of Foreign Affairs to refer the notice of withdrawal to the Senate for its concurrence, “pursuant to Section 31, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.”

In their prayer, the senators did not say what treaty or agreement they were referring to.

Several senators, however, have already maintained the Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs the conduct of American soldiers while they conduct military exercises with their Philippine counterparts, could not be scrapped unilaterally by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The President issued the order for the termination after the US cancelled Senator Ronald dela Rosa’s US visa.

Dela Rosa said he believed this was because of his role in the drug war as former national police chief.

He said Duterte’s order was due to one-sided foreign relations. With a report from Moira Encina