From the nation's
capital...
I was not at the
welcome gala of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the
White House - heavens, only high society types would ever get into
a White House guest list. But from the accounts of at least two Washington,
DC newspapers it appears that the state visit of President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo to the capital of the United States was a success.
The hosting American
delegation was a very long list of Who is Who among
the capital's cream of society: President Bush and Vice President
Cheney
and their wives, selected government big shots, media characters...
There was another
group in the American delegation. They stood out as a special group,
an eclectic group of Americans composed of a beauty queen, a city
mayor, two leaders of a veteran's group, a city council member, a
professional country singer, a US army three-star general, and a light
flyweight boxer. Some of them tagged their spouses along.
They were Americans
of Philippine descent.
The lieutenant
general is Pangasinan-born Edward Soriano and the beauty queen is
Angela Barraquio from Hawaii's Philippine community who became
Miss America 2001. Country music fans might recognize the name of
Neal McCoy, born in Subic Bay of a Filipino mother and an American
father.
Boxing fans might also remember Brian Viloria, the Filipino light
flyweight boxer in the US Olympic team.
The Washington
Post, although one of its top honchos was invited, devoted only a
modest coverage of the gala event. The Washington Times, on the other
hand, did a more visible coverage but strangely, I did not see anyone
from the Washington Times in the guest list. NBC's Tom Brokaw was
there but I missed any NBC coverage of the event, if any.
In fact, I missed
whatever mainstream TV coverage there was, also if any.
What was noteworthy
- this from the Washington papers - was that the Philippines was accorded
by the Bush administration the status of a major
non-NATO ally, a status accorded so far to Australia, Egypt and Israel.
(I don't understand this. What about Japan?) And the White House state
visit gala was only the third since President Bush took office. The
previous two were accorded to leaders of Mexico and Poland.
It was the first
to an Asian head of state.
The Philippine
delegation, on the other hand, had only fifteen people headed by GMA
and her husband. There was only one journalist and the rest, while
high society types in Manila, were there apparently in their roles
related to the state visit in matters of defense, foreign affairs,
trade, etc.
However, sometime
after the event, the Washington Times put out an unflattering editorial,
sarcastically entitled "Christmas in the Philippines." It
accused President Arroyo of a mouthful. A barbershop pundit might
think the Times was miffed at having been uninvited to GMA's gala
welcome.
It recalled how "Manila embarrassed the Pentagon by renouncing
a large agreed-upon deployment of US troops to the archipelago - after
the the US
Defense department announced the deal."
The editorial
also accused GMA and her administration of parroting the French's
stand in asking for more time for inspections in Iraq.
"Worse that
either of these affronts" the Washington Times editorial continued,
"was her bold protest against war during the planning stages
last September when the Bush administration was trying to line up
allied
support for a strike."
More accusations
followed. It cited the Philippine prohibition of US warplanes to refuel
in Philippine bases or even to fly over the Philippines during any
attack on Iraq. In a classic attitude of patronizing superiority,
the Times, in so many words, accused the Philippines of ingratitude,
citing how the US sent aid in millions of dollars and thousands of
GIs to fight Muslim terrorists in Mindanao.
It was mouthing
the trite philosophy that the Philippines, for having been liberated
from the Japanese in WW II, owed MacArthur a lot. The Times editorial
writers obviously need more research about Philippine "ingratitude."
Whatever happened
to quid pro quo?
But to its credit
the Times editorial acknowledged the usefulness of the Philippines
in the fight against terrorism. Still, in a final shot, it asked "a
little bit more fealty from President Arroyo..."
The Times wants
Filipinos to be lap dogs. Let's hope the Bush administration does
not.
email address:
frednati@earthlink.net
