UNITED States Ambassador to Philippines Harry Thomas Jr., on Tuesday maintained that the Malaysian shipping firm accused of dumping hazardous wastes on Subic Bay is just a contractor hired by the US Navy and not covered by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

At the same time Thomas, during the weekly Bulong Pulungan news forum at Sofitel Philippine Plaza, also reiterated that they oppose environmental degradation and the illegal dumping of waste and is aware of the allegation against Glen Defense Marine.

“This is not the US Navy, these are contractors hired by the US Navy whom we expect to respect and conform in accordance with Philippine law; they are not under the VFA,” Thomas said.

The controversy started when Glenn Defense Marine Philippines, the local operator of the Malaysian-owned Glenn Defense Marine Asia, was accused of dumping in Subic Bay hazardous materials that it had collected from USS Emory S. Land, while taking part in a joint military exercise in October with Philippine military.

Thomas also noted that they will just wait for the results of the investigation being conducted by the Philippine government and the Senate.

The incident has prompted several senators to file a resolution seeking conduct an investigation in the incident and a legislator is even considering terminating the VFA.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that she wants to conduct an investigation because there are many issues that need to be cleared like the claim that the wastes dumped in Subic were not hazardous.

“Why did they have to dump it? The mere fact that they dumped it means that it is not beneficial to our people. What kind of argument is that ‘it is not hazardous or toxic, therefore they have the right to dump it?” Santiago said.

Santiago noted that under the VFA any vessel that intends to enter the country is required to get permission from the Philippine government and she wants to know if the contractor has a permit.

Is this enough cause to terminate the VFA?

The Senator said that she is also re-examining the VFA to determine if the continues existence of the agreement still benefits the Philippines.

“If they act like this, we can safely presume that if the whistle has not been blown this time, they could have just gone on doing the same thing. It raises in our minds the suspicion that because of the [President Barack] Obama-announced policy of pivoting to Asia, we’ll have more of these American troops and vessels within our territory, and, for all we know, again violating our environmental laws,” she explained.

Santiago also expressed belief that abrogation of the VFA will have an effect on the Philippine-US relation but she added that it may not stay as such because international relations are not static and it depends on the circumstances.