Senate vs. Palace on EDCA?

The Senate will review the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement despite Malacañang’s insistence that EDCA is a mere executive agreement and, therefore, not subject to concurrence of the chamber. Definitely, this is much more welcome than the “inquiry” into the pork barrel scam by the Senate yellow ribbon committee. This gives the Senate an opportunity to show that it would not follow willy-nilly the wishes of President BS Aquino.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense, has filed Senate Resolution 623 seeking to “clarify the contents and coverage of EDCA and to examine the extent of the strategic military relationship between the United States and the Philippines under it.” This resolution was referred last Tuesday to the committee of Trillanes and to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations headed by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. The first hearing is set for May 13 at 10 a.m. at the Sen. JP Laurel Room.