Senate to look into ‘extended’ stay of US troops in RP

Gabriela party-list Representatives Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan, for their part, said President Arroyo could be liable for treason by allowing the US troops to participate in counter-terrorism operations in the country.

They noted that the presence of the US troops is a clear case of "interference" in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.

"Such move allowed by the Philippine government may constitute a case of treason against President Arroyo," Ilagan and Maza said in a resolution filed to investigate the participation of the US troops in counter-insurgency operations in the country.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has admitted that the US is going to deploy 600 US soldiers in counter-insurgency operations in the country while Malacañang welcomed the move.

Maza and Ilagan said that the admission by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that the US might have seen the value of keeping their soldiers here is a clear proof that the US is meddling in the affairs of the country.

They maintained that even under the VFA, which was cited by Ermita as the basis for the US troops presence, US military forces are not allowed to stay for counter-insurgency operations.