No permanent US Base, just access to military facilities. Malacanang yesterday reiterated it's assurance that there will be no permanent bases to be established by the US in it's military deal with the Philippines. Pres. Spokesperson Lacierda said that while the talks on the Framework Agreement on the increased Rotational Presence of US troops here are yet to be completed he assured that there will be no permanent military bases by US. Lacierda said that while the Executive and Legislative branches of the government have different interpretations on whether or not the agreement needs ratification by the Senate, the best thing to do is to just wait for the agreements to be completed. The palace had said over the weekend that there is no need for ratification of the agreements by the Senate. However, Sen. Santiago insisted that there should be Senate ratification. Sen. Trillanes IV backed the position of the Executive branch that the proposed enhanced military cooperation is an executive agreement that doesn't need ratification by the Senate. The enhanced RP-US agreement according to Trillanes is a merely specific implementing guideline of the 1952 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) signed during the Estrada administration.
