VFA body head quits over Smith transfer issue

By Ronron
January 7, 2007 (Sunday)

Manila - Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes, Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), is resigning from his post due to his opposing view on the issue regarding the transfer of US Lance Corporal Daniel Smith last December 29 from the Makati City Jail to the US Embassy in Manila.

In a television interview Sunday, Paredes said he will be submitting his resignation letter anytime this week to Malacañang.

Interviewed later by phone, Paredes, who held the post for three years, told Manila Shimbun he suggested quitting effective end of this month.

“I took a position which is diametrically opposed to that of the administration, so I cannot sit well anymore with them,” he said in the television interview when asked if the reason for his resignation is his opposition to the Malacañang-backed transfer of Smith.

“I maintain my position that I am for the return of Smith to the US custody. This is what Paragraph 6 (of Article 5 of the VFA) requires. What I was against was the manner with which he was whisked away from Makati City Jail to the US Embassy without any court order or authorization,” he explained.

Paredes stressed that even with the agreement of US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo about the transfer of Smith to US custody, “it’s still the court” that should have effected such move, and not the executive branch.

“We are supposed to be a society of law. So, we have to abide by the rules of the court, by the separation of powers of government, and all that. I fought very hard for Provision 6, but I will also fight hard to see to it that no Constitution or principle of which shall be violated,” Paredes said.

He disclosed the transfer of Smith greatly surprised him because he only learned about it only after it was effected.

He said that after talking with Malacañang officials in the past few days, his resignation will easily be approved. “We have more or less agreed about my quitting the post,” Paredes said.

While he admitted that some provisions in the VFA need clarifications, Paredes said amendments and re-negotiations should only be done after the resolution of the Subic Rape Case.

He said he does not know yet if he is going to accept a new government post, although his immediate plan is to either go back to law practice or teach law in the university./DMS