October 14, 2003, The Philippine Star, Recto: Open skies pact needs Senate okay, by Jess Diaz,

October 14, 2003, The Philippine Star, Recto: Open skies pact needs Senate okay, by Jess Diaz,

The 1980 RP-US Air Transport Agreement, otherwise known as the Open Skies Treaty, and any amendments to it need Senate ratification to be valid and effective. 

This is the sense of a resolution that Sen. Ralph Recto filed yesterday which seeks an inquiry into how a succession of administrations from the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, when the treaty was concluded, failed to obtain the required Senate approval. 

Recto said after the inquiry, he and his colleagues should vote to compel Malacañang to submit the treaty and its amendments, if any, to the Senate for ratification. 

He said the appropriate committees should look into the implications of the agreement on national interest and particularly on the local aviation industry. 

He noted that the industry and other sectors, and Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., a former foreign affairs secretary, have vehemently opposed the implementation of the treaty. 

Although concluded during martial law, the agreement has not been implemented. Last Oct. 1, the open skies policy was supposed to take effect, but President Arroyo created a three-member panel to review it. 

The panel is composed of Secretaries Leandro Mendoza of transportation and communications, Richard Gordon of tourism and Manuel Roxas II of trade and industry. 

The agreement gives the Philippines and the US unlimited access to each other’s skies, eliminating regulations on flight frequencies, type of aircraft used and destinations. 

Recto said the treaty itself qualifies it as an international agreement that requires Senate ratification. 

It is understandable that the late President Marcos did not submit it for Senate ratification because his martial law declaration abolished Congress, he said.