After the Aquino administration and the U.S. State Department used the Marcosian tactic of keeping official enactments a secret by making the provisions of the “Ph-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement” top secret for two days even after the agreement has been signed, publicly, with no explanation why the provisions were not accessible to the public (the dictator Marcos had secret presidential decrees that contained short-cuts of criminal procedure and penal provisions that military and government prosecutors pulled out in the middle of habeas corpus proceedings to keep political prisoners in jail; not even the U.P. Law Center had copies of such secret decrees), finally, the Official Gazette (c/o Manolo Quezon III) uploaded a PDF file of the agreement last night. Here it is, in this link:
nobody asked: where’s the official copy of the defense agreement — why are the provisions a secret up to now?
this press con is so structured — many of the questions are focused on the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines, to highlight the “need” for increased US military presence on Philippine soil inconsistent with constitutional provisions.
fourth question: Addressed to PNoy: What have you done about the 26 journalists killed? For the US Pres: on foreign policy
