Video by 蜜桃工作室鈥檚 Ryan Leagogo
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MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago called the 15-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) a 鈥渇ailure鈥� because it merely served to keep the Philippines attached to its 鈥渇ormer colonizer鈥� the United States (US).
Protesters rally in front of DFA building. Inset Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. 蜜桃工作室 FILE PHOTOS
鈥淭he VFA is a historic document of inequity between a former colonizer and its former colony, which some global political analysts describe as a 鈥榝ailing state.鈥� The Philippines is failing because it has never grown up,鈥� Santiago said during her opening remarks at a Senate hearing on the case of a US Marine who allegedly killed a transgender woman in Olongapo City.
鈥淣ever in the annals of modern political history has a country been so manipulated to serve the interest of another, and taught to be so ironically grateful for such an inequitable relationship,鈥� she said.
Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton is accused of killing Jeffrey 鈥淛ennifer鈥� Laude in a hotel in Olongapo last October 11.
He was previously detained on board the USS Peleliu but was transferred to a detention facility inside Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday morning. Which country is supposed to have custody of Pemberton has been widely debated.
鈥淲e are a stillborn state, because our umbilical cord with the US has never been cut,鈥� Santiago said, citing the unequal provisions of the VFA.
The hearing was held to review the VFA following the Laude slay case and calls from several sectors for it to be terminated.
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