MANILA, 23 March 2003 — Senators yesterday chided President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s offer of Philippine airspace and refueling stops for advancing US forces to the war in Iraq.

Sen. Manny Villar said the government’s overzealousness in its all-out support for the US war on Iraq made the country look cheap and sycophantic.

“Why offer our facilities voluntarily and openly when the US government has not made any requests? Our government is overzealous in supporting the Americans,” said Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign affairs.

He said it was unlikely the Americans would make such a request since the Philippines is geographically distant from the Middle East.

Opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said it was ridiculous for the president to offer have made the offer when no formal request had been made by Washington.

Malacañang should at least extract the maximum monetary benefits from the United States for the use of the country’s air and naval bases for US troops bound for Iraq, he said.

“What is the quid pro quo? That should be emphasized because we are always taken for granted by the US as if they are treating us like a puppet,” he said.

Pimentel said the country was entitled to compensation and other concessions from the US in much the same manner that Washington gave financial and military aid to Pakistan during its campaign in Afghanistan.

He said the government should also be more aggressive in asking the US for help in getting the country’s enormous debt reduced or condoned, particularly the loans that are grossly disadvantageous and onerous.

He also cited the case of Turkey which got a substantial compensation package for the use of its air space and bases in the ongoing war in Iraq.

“I hope that we can look for innovative ways by which we can take advantage of the situation. I think it is important that we should impose monetary considerations,” he said.

Rep. Satur Ocampo of the Bayan Muna party-list group said Arroyo’s allowing use of Philippine airspace and bases to the Americans would place the country in a “state of war” with Iraq, a situation which he said requires “expressed authority” from Congress.

“The president must get the expressed declaration from Congress that we are in a state of war. It’s Congress which will give her that authority,” Ocampo said, citing specific provisions of the Constitution.

Arroyo could call a “special session” with Congress if such a request were to come up, Ocampo said. Congress went on recess on March 20 and will resume sessions on April 21.

“She should abide by the process dictated by the Constitution. Otherwise, she will be cited for violation of the Constitution, an impeachable offense,” he said.

Fight Against Local Terrorists

Explaining her offer, Arroyo said the US-led offensive against Iraq will help safeguard the Philippines from domestic terror groups who may be getting support from abroad.

In a speech during the army’s anniversary celebration yesterday, the president warned that local extremists like the Abu Sayyaf were supported by foreign terrorists and the Philippines must support efforts to make sure they do not get their hands on weapons of mass destruction, or WMDs.

“As the battle for Baghdad begins, the relative safety of our nationals from WMDs is more or less assured,” Arroyo said.

“One country alone cannot eliminate terrorists like the Abu Sayyaf group as their links to other terrorist organizations give them financial support, arms and materials,” she said.

Arroyo did not directly link Baghdad to the Abu Sayyaf which has been kidnapping Christians and foreigners for ransom in the southern Philippines for about a decade.

However, last month Iraqi diplomat Husham Hussain was expelled from the country after Manila accused him of having alleged contacts with the Abu Sayyaf group.

The Abu Sayyaf have been linked by both Washington and Manila to the Al-Qaeda terror network of Osama Bin Laden. In the past two years, they have killed two American hostages and staged a bombing campaign which claimed the life of an American soldier in the south.

In her speech, Arroyo expressed condolences for the families of coalition forces killed in the Middle East and the families of local soldiers slain in battles with local terror groups.

She also called for prayers for the Iraqi people that they be “spared from grave suffering and harm, just as our nationals have so far been spared.”