PNoy: After apology, US needs to account for violation of laws

January 26, 2013 4:56pm

A US government apology is not enough after the damage caused by the grounding of the minesweeper USS Guardian on Tubbataha Reef last Jan. 17, President Benigno Aquino III said.

In an interview with reporters covering his visit to Switzerland, Aquino said the US will have to comply with Philippine laws regarding the incident.

“They’re showing you they respect us as a sovereign state, and we’d like to thank them (that) they are respecting our sovereignty and are very careful about our sensitivities. But that doesn’t exempt them from having to comply with our laws,” he said.

He pointed out there will be an investigation once the USS Guardian is removed from the area.

Aquino said he wants to know how the ship, with its sophisticated navigation systems, ended up in a protected area.

On the other hand, he said the Tubbataha area is an internationally recognized zone.

“They violated it, there are penalties. Then they will have to address all of these violations of our pertinent laws,” he said.

For now, he said the priority is to remove the ship, then to assess the damage.

“Gusto nating malaman kung bakit nangyari ito, para ma-prevent in the future (We want to know why this happened, so we can prevent a repeat of the incident),” he added.

Meanwhile, Aquino indicated he was not keen on accommodating the call of some groups to review the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement in the wake of the incident.

He pointed out the VFA merely governs the conduct of visiting US troops when in military exercises in the Philippines.

“Anong koneksyon nung VFA sa pagpunta nila sa Tubbataha? Wala namang exercises doon. Again, this is really a question of violating certain ecological laws that we already have in the books,” he said. — LBG, GMA News