G. R. No. 175608
June 8, 2007
DEPARTMENT O BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT PROCUREMENT SERVICE (DBM-PS) and the inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee (IABAC), petetioners VS. KOLONWEL TRADING, respondent.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the foreign loan agreements (Loan No. 7118-PH) with international financial institutions, partake of an executive or international agreement and shall govern the procurement of goods necessary to implement the project.
HELD:
This issue has been affirmatively answered in the case of Abaya. In that case, the court declared that the RP-JBIC loan agreement was to be of governing application over the CP I project and that the JBIC Procurement Guidelines, as stipulated in the loan agreement.
Under the fundamental international law principle of pacta sunt servanda, the RP, as borrower, bound itself to perform in good faith its duties and obligation under Loan No. 7118-PH. Applying this postulate, the IABAC was legally obliged to comply with, or accord primacy to, the WB Guidelines on the conduct and implementation of the bidding/procurement process in question.
Lim vs. GMA
GR 151445, 11 April 2002
Facts: On 1 February 2002, petitioners Arturo D. Lim and Paulino Ersando filed this petition for certiorari and prohibition attacking the constitutionality of the so-called “Balikatan 01-1.” The “Balikatan” exercises are the largest combined training operations involving Filipino and American troops. It is pursuant to the Mutual Defense Treaty, a bilateral defense agreement entered into by the Philippines and the US in 1951 and an effect of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two nations of 1999.
Issues: Whether “Balikatan 02-1” is covered by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Whether the VFA authorized American soldiers to engage in combat operations in Philippine territory.
Held: In resolving the first issue, it is necessary to refer to the VFA itself. However, not much help can be had therefrom, unfortunately, since the terminology employed is itself the source of the problem. The VFA permits United States personnel to engage on an impermanent basis in “activities”, the exact meaning of which was left undefined. The sole encumbrance placed on its definition is couched in the negative, in that United States personnel must “abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of this agreement, and in particular, from any political activity.”
The Supreme Court, after studied reflection of Articles 31 and 32 of Section 3 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded that the ambiguity sorrounding the meaning of the word “activities” arose from accident. In our view, it was deliberately made that way to give both parties a certain leeway in negotiation. Under these auspices, the VFA if given legitimacy to the current Balikatan exercise. It is only logical to assume that “Balikatan 02-1” a mutual anti-terrorism advising, assisting and training exercise,” falls under the umbrella of sanctioned or allowable activities in the context of the agreement. In connection with the second issue, both the history and intent of the MDT and the VFA support conclusion that combat-related activities, as opposed to combat itself are indeed authorized.
More so, the Terms of Reference are explicit enough. Paragraph 8 of Section I stipulates that US exercise participants may not engage in combat “except in self-defense.” It is the opinion of the Court that neither the MDT nor the DFA allow foreign troops to engage in an offensive war in Philippine territory bearing in mind the salutory prescription stated in the Charter of the United Nations.
In the same manner, both the MDT and the VFA, 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. Although the Constitution present a conflict between the fundamental law and our obligations from international agreements, it however resolves it in section 2 of Article VIII of the Constitution.
The foregoing premises leave us no doubt that US forces are prohibited from engaging in an offensive war on the Philippine territory.
June 8, 2007
DEPARTMENT O BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT PROCUREMENT SERVICE (DBM-PS) and the inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee (IABAC), petetioners VS. KOLONWEL TRADING, respondent.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the foreign loan agreements (Loan No. 7118-PH) with international financial institutions, partake of an executive or international agreement and shall govern the procurement of goods necessary to implement the project.
HELD:
This issue has been affirmatively answered in the case of Abaya. In that case, the court declared that the RP-JBIC loan agreement was to be of governing application over the CP I project and that the JBIC Procurement Guidelines, as stipulated in the loan agreement.
Under the fundamental international law principle of pacta sunt servanda, the RP, as borrower, bound itself to perform in good faith its duties and obligation under Loan No. 7118-PH. Applying this postulate, the IABAC was legally obliged to comply with, or accord primacy to, the WB Guidelines on the conduct and implementation of the bidding/procurement process in question.
Lim vs. GMA
GR 151445, 11 April 2002
Facts: On 1 February 2002, petitioners Arturo D. Lim and Paulino Ersando filed this petition for certiorari and prohibition attacking the constitutionality of the so-called “Balikatan 01-1.” The “Balikatan” exercises are the largest combined training operations involving Filipino and American troops. It is pursuant to the Mutual Defense Treaty, a bilateral defense agreement entered into by the Philippines and the US in 1951 and an effect of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two nations of 1999.
Issues: Whether “Balikatan 02-1” is covered by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Whether the VFA authorized American soldiers to engage in combat operations in Philippine territory.
Held: In resolving the first issue, it is necessary to refer to the VFA itself. However, not much help can be had therefrom, unfortunately, since the terminology employed is itself the source of the problem. The VFA permits United States personnel to engage on an impermanent basis in “activities”, the exact meaning of which was left undefined. The sole encumbrance placed on its definition is couched in the negative, in that United States personnel must “abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of this agreement, and in particular, from any political activity.”
The Supreme Court, after studied reflection of Articles 31 and 32 of Section 3 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded that the ambiguity sorrounding the meaning of the word “activities” arose from accident. In our view, it was deliberately made that way to give both parties a certain leeway in negotiation. Under these auspices, the VFA if given legitimacy to the current Balikatan exercise. It is only logical to assume that “Balikatan 02-1” a mutual anti-terrorism advising, assisting and training exercise,” falls under the umbrella of sanctioned or allowable activities in the context of the agreement. In connection with the second issue, both the history and intent of the MDT and the VFA support conclusion that combat-related activities, as opposed to combat itself are indeed authorized.
More so, the Terms of Reference are explicit enough. Paragraph 8 of Section I stipulates that US exercise participants may not engage in combat “except in self-defense.” It is the opinion of the Court that neither the MDT nor the DFA allow foreign troops to engage in an offensive war in Philippine territory bearing in mind the salutory prescription stated in the Charter of the United Nations.
In the same manner, both the MDT and the VFA, 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. Although the Constitution present a conflict between the fundamental law and our obligations from international agreements, it however resolves it in section 2 of Article VIII of the Constitution.
The foregoing premises leave us no doubt that US forces are prohibited from engaging in an offensive war on the Philippine territory.