(This piece by Malaya columnist JB Baylon first appeared in the July 7, 2006 issue of Malaya.)
The President of the Philippines yesterday condemned the missile testing by North Korea.
I am not exactly sure what else our president said beyond aping the remarks of US President George W. Bush, but effectively telling North Korea to behave are tough words from a Philippine president.
I wonder what we will say should North Korea decide to lob one missile or two our way in response.
No other country in our p[art of the world, with the exception of Japan and South Korea for obvious reasons, have said anything or at least said anything publicly about, and against, North Korea’s actions. Maybe it is because they do not feel as threatened by North Korea as we do? Or maybe because they do not seek to win as many brownie points with George Bush as we do?
Or yet maybe still because their leaders do not need to make sure they have the support of George W. Bush as ours does, lest a coup attempt be seen by the US as an “internal matter” – and out goes the president.
Which is why I see the statement from Malacañang as directed more towards the White House than towards Pyongyang.
While we’re at it, maybe GMA can also condemn Osama in the strongest possible terms. I suggest she ask Secretary Raul Gonzalez to make one of his trademark disparaging remarks to a group of newsmen about bin Laden, so the bearded man can quake in his boots.
Imagine – the Philippines side by side with the US threatening the scoundrels of the world with dire consequences because of their intransigence! We are truly evolving into a mini-world power. If the US has become the world’s policeman, we have become the “kabit” of the world’s policeman.
Then again maybe we have a right to consider ourselves a budding world power. Why not, given the fact that many of the world’s leaders have Filipinas as yayas to their kids. Can you imagine the power and the influence of that?
Add to that the fact that many of the world’s top businessmen also have Filipino househelp – from cooks to drivers to mayordomas.
If you think about it, the power the Philippines wields is growing, albeit in a quiet, backroom sort of way. And soon we can show our strength by calling for a world boycott, a global strike of all Filipino workers – which would cripple ships and hotels and households and all that. On that day GMA can truly make demands on all world leaders, and not just on bin Laden or Kim Jong Il.
“Comply with our demands” our president can proclaim, ‘or else” – and part of the “or else” could be our ingraining into the children of the world’s political and business leaders many things that are wrong in Philippine (political and civic) culture:
Our penchant, for example, to make blanket excuses for the shenanigans of those closest to us, while blaming our enemies (business or political) for the black propaganda and the lies they are spreading;
Our attitude at looking at laws and regulations as “recommendations’, and teaching the young generation to learn how to say “Don’t you know who my father or mother is?” when confronted with violations of the law;
Or even upending the principle of sovereignty residing in the people in the world’s democracies by showing elected leaders how it is to rule, not to govern; how to treat public office as a right and not a privilege; how to convince the public that they should be grateful to have public servants whose statements of assets grow every year while their liabilities shrink, even as the country’s economy as a whole deteriorates and the ordinary man has to rely on “tingi-tingi” transactions.
Don’t laugh, but these may all come to pass sooner rather than later, provided the rest of the world doesn’t decide to close their borders to our millions of countrymen who, every year, decided to flee their homeland for greener pastures elsewhere. And provided, of course, that Pyongyang doesn’t lob one of their long range missiles which can reach targets as far as 9,000 miles away.
Maybe it’s time for our AFP to start developing its own missiles? We have great firecrackers during our New Year’s celebrations – maybe we could get some congressmen to sit down with the Bulacan pyrotechnics experts so that we can add hot air to the explosives and, voila! We have our own missiles we can call “Hello Garci 1” and “Hello Garci 2” in honor of a tandem that has done so much to destroy the democratic processes in our country.
That, once done, would make our transformation complete – from the economic and political basketcase of Asia to a mouse that roars!
The Bansot’s intention is very obvious. As they say in Tagalog, “Nagpapansin kasi hindi pinapansin!”
I can see that our government is doing its best to put the message to the North Koreans that Japan will not bow down to pressure with the use of nukes, and that we are as capable to retaliate if worse comes to worst. But funny how the Bansot would even try to impress Dubya at our expense by her usual cry-wolfing tactic as if the Philippines is military capable of defending not just Philippine interests but also those of its neighbors, especially economically and militarily prepared Japan and/or South Korea.
Kung hindi pa natin alam kung papaano nila pinagkakakuwartahan ang pagpapadala ng mga pilipinong sundalo sa ibang bansa even as UN peacekeepers. Tarantado talaga ang Bansot na ito? Hindi na nahiya!
We are not even bothered by this present North Korean bullying. Life in Japan is the same as usual, and we just watch the TV to keep updated on what our government is doing to stop the North Koreans from getting completely deranged.
This is in fact suicide since North Korea has nothing but these nuke bombs to frighten the Americans via Japan and South Korea, and when they use them up even perhaps to annihilate its own people, North Korea will have nothing, not even a crazy Midget who is crazy about a Japanese magician!
Yes, dear friends, North Korea likewise is headed by another Pandak who is trying hard to act big! Magkamukha nga sila ni Bansot!
Buti na lang hindi nalalagay sa Google News International, etc. si Bansot at ang mga sinabi niya baka magalit iyong Pandak na si Kim at doon niya itutok ang bomba niya! OK sana kung si Bansot, Pidal, et al lang ang mapipinsala!
The Philippines as a world power, oh yeah, world power through exportation and deployment of Filipinos to do the dirty work that people in those countries don’t want to do. Filipinos are all scattered around the world working as atsays at taga-pahid ng mga puwet ng mga matatanda. Marangal na trabaho, we can say that again but only for moral support and just to feel good. People have no choice, because the government is so insensitive to the needs of the people and you can not have the best of both worlds, either there or here, thats it. If you have any choice, do you really want to be at the beck and call of another person, much more a foreigner, doing the dirty works cleaning sinks, toilets, naglalampaso, nagpapaligo at naghihilod ng katawan ng mga matatanda na hindi mo naman ka-anu ano and not to mention the abuses both verbal and physical they endure from these people. Nakakaawa naman, but then again, maybe Gloria want to conquer the world not thru arms, ammunitions and bombs that kill people but thru loving arms that care for human beings. And if she succeeds in unifying all those exports and make them rally for just one cause, and orders them to do a ala”civil disobedience” and stop working at the same time, she can paralyze a country of her choice and she can claim a world power title and as Baylon said, The mouse roars. Then that will be the happiest moment of her life.
ystakei…tama ka diyan, yun din ang unang pumasok sa isip ko, na sana dahil sa “pag-epal” nitong si Gloria (Mukhang suso na talaga sa TV), sa Malakanyang pabagsakin ni Kim yung isa sa mga susunod na “test missles” ng North Korea…tiyak, ultimo maitim na buto nitong si Gloria at ng kaniyang mga “alipores” ay tunaw. Talagang napaka siba sa “press release” ng “kapal ahmuk” na yan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, at halos lahat ng Asian countries, of course with the “obvious exemption of Japan and South Korea, kept their “mouth shut” ika nga, samantalang itong si Gloriang “ECHO” ni GW Bush, aba’y “ngumangaw-ngaw”. This “thread’s” title is really appropriate…”d’ mouse roar”..pero Ma’m Ellen, malaki pa iyong “mouse”..itong si Gloria e “bubuwit” lang. 😀
Oops, when I say “our government,” I mean the Japanese goverment that even with Elvis-crazy Koizumi can still function in accordance with the provisions of our pacifist Constitution!
The government here in fact is trying its best not to frighten our citizens. We don’t even have to conduct those emergency drills just to show off. It is done at least once a year, especially during the firemen’s week in January. I am confident, however, that the government storage is being checked right now to make sure that there would be enough food and medical supplies, etc. to distribute to all, including these stranded foreigners, in case of an emergency.
Spartan:
You bet, palabas lang ni Bansot ang ginagawa niya. Diyan mahilig ang mga katulad niya. Manduduro ang tawag sa Tagalog.
Nangkupo, ang hilig manakot! Dito, hindi kami tumitinag! Nang malaman ko nga ang tungkol sa ginawa ni Kim Pandak, ang reaksyon ko ay kapareho ng karamihan dito, “Ah so, hmmm!” No pansin!
I’m actually watching right now the news on our troops being flown home from Kuwait that is actually not that many-500 lang yata- but capable enough to defend Japan in case of a declaration of war with North Korea that Koizumi hopes he can still manage to stop through negotiation! Talaga naman itong si Japanese Elvis!
With China not wanting to disrupt preparation for the Olmpic Games there, I doubt if North Korea will push through with this attempt to frighten Bush without China’s blessing.
Thanks for your views. We are so engrossed with our own problems, we forget we are part of a bigger world.
Maybe GMA’s roar echoes through her Enchanted Kingdom. Philippine bogus President Gloria Arroyo pretends to be a world leader in global peace. Let the super powers solve the North Korean missile crisis. The Arroyo government should focus on internal security problems instead of parroting U.S. President George Bush. There’s nothing in the Philippine military arsenal capable of intercepting missile attacks. The Philippine Air Force relies on Vietnam-vintage Huey helicopters to defend our air space. AFP modernization funds went to the drain due to corruption and wrong priorities. Mrs. Gloria Arroyo’s roars against North Korea’s test firing missiles is just to gain international attention.
Yup “Manang” Yuko, Kim “Pandak” made a “calculated bluff” by going ahead with the “test firing”, he knows well enough China’s “eagerness” to “showcase” itself by means of the 2008 Olympics. Besides, the US of A is still “occupied” by it’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that it would as much as possible “avoid” any “direct confrontations” with the “dictatorial regime up north of the 38th parallel”. Kaya talagang “katawa-tawa” sa mata ng ating mga “kapit-bahay” kundi man sa buong Asya, ay dito sa Southeast Asia, ang ginawang “pag-iingay” ni Gloria. It just “shows” how “low the IQ” of this “self-proclaimed” best person to lead our country to economic prosperity, and later on to the “enchanted kingdom”. “Genius” ang WALANGHIYA sa KALOKOHAN, katulad ng PAGSISINUNGALING, PAGNANAKAW, at PANLOLOKO.
08 July 2006
Yes ystakei, I agree, the leprechaun wants to get the attention of Bush.
jinx
Well, ystakei and mga “kababayan”…have a great weekend. MABUHAY ang ating INANG-BAYAN!!!
Diego:
You’re right, the superpowers can handle their problems, but you know the tiny pulgas wants to try if she can try to steal the show, sneak in the back door and suck some people’s blood!
Palagay ko binibilang na niya ang makukupit niya doon sa kikitahin ng mga sundalong pilipino na isusubo niya sa kanyon ng mga kano kapag nahikayat niya si Bush na mga pilipino ang kuning lumaban sa mga Koreano sa Norte!
Kunyari i-o-offer iyong mga restive Philippine soldiers na gustong kumita para ilaban kay Kim na Pandak din! Akala ni Bansot nakaisa na siya, pero ni hindi siya pinansin! Diplomasya lang si Bush na sinabi, “Thank you for supporting our fight against terrorism!”
Now, kundi ba namang walang budhi ang walanghiya, komo nakalagay sa listahan ni Bush ng mga terorista sa mundo iyong mga miyembro ni Joma, kaya palapad na naman si Bansot na uusigin at pagpapapatayin daw niya ang mga komunista sa Pilipinas!
Dito mayroon din Red Army na mas kilala kasi sa ginawa nila sa airport sa Israel noong 70’s at pag-hijack ng JAL na pinapunta sa North Korea, pero nunca na may nagbitiw ng pananalita na politiko, etc. dito na dapat silang patayin. Ang utos sa mga pulis dito (walang pakialam ang mga sundalo sa pagpapairal ng batas dito!) ay hulihin sila para sila maparusahan ng bitay o kulong!
Iyon ngang lider nila nang mahuli ang daladala ay Philippine passport! Napakamot na lang ang mga pulis dito dahil dito walang foreigner na hindi hapon ang makakakuha ng passport na hapon na hindi makukulong!
Tapos itong si Bansot akala mo naman kaya niya ang mga Norte Koreano! Hambug talaga! Palibhasa apo noong dugong-asong Macapagal na pumatay kay Andres Bonifacio at kapatid niya!
Dapat bang matuwa ang pinas sa tapang ni bansot? Ano ba naman ang ipagmalaki niya, eh ang gulay sa palengke ay kailangan pang mag-angkat? Matapang talaga kahit walang baraha.
Sige bansot, magyabang ka, pero pag pati sa’tin ay nagalit yang mga yan, baka magsisi ka. Ang problema, pati kami ay dinadamay mo sa kayabangan mo. Magyabang ka kung kaya mo, ngunit ang turo sa’kin ng magulang ko, kahit na may ipagyayabang ay ‘di ka dapat magmalaki. ‘Di lang pala ngipin mo ang malaki, pati ulo mo.
Alitaptap:
Hindi iyan matapang, mayabang lang! Kaya nga manduduro! Parang asong kahol na kahol pero duwag pala! E kung matapang siya, bakit hinahalangan niya ang impeachment e ang linaw-linaw na dapat siyang matanggal sa ginagawa niya. Dapat nga diyan, disqualification na lang dahil malinaw namang sinabi sa batas na maaaring ma-disqualify ang isang mandaraya!
paki isplika nga kung ano ang pinagkaiba?
ERAP ON ANWAR IBRAHIM
GMA ON KIM OF NK
* * * * *
Both are trying to catch international attention.
Hello US State Department
There is a big difference. Erap needed to be nice to the Malaysians for any help the Malaysians would be willing to offer him especially with regard to the Moslem problem in Mindanao.
The Bansot does no have that option since the Philippines does not have any diplomatic ties with North Korea unless she wants to expose her secret deals with the US regarding the transfer of portion of US military operations in Okinawa to the Philippines that is even against some ruling set in the early 90’s.
North Korea, in fact, was testing its nuke capability against the US with Japan and South Korea as its initial targets because of the presence of US bases in Japan.
We aren’t even worried about these testings over here, so why is the fool blabbing again her usual “isang bala ka lang” warning against North Korea? Iyong helicopter nga ng AFP hindi makababa sa disaster areas kapag may salanta sa Pilipinas? Kung hindi pa nga maaawa ang ibang bansa hindi magkaroon ng bagong sasakyan ng pulis ang Pilipinas! Ang yabang talaga ng bobang iyan!
wala tayong magagawa…pagka boba, boooobaaaa talaga kahit pa ano ang gawin nya…lalo na siguro ang taga sulat nya…or ang adviser nya kamo, kasing bobo nya…just imagine, am sure the fool even told d bruha..yes madam, we should put this blah and that blah…sino ang sitting duck ngayon..tayo lahat dito sa pinas!
Alam mo, Soleil, hindi ko maintindihan kung papaano natotolerate ng mga pilipino ang sistema ng injustice sa Pilipinas. Dito, kapag nabalitaang binugbog ng pulis ang iniimbestigahan nila, close na ang case at hindi na puedeng isampa sa korte. Kaya dito maingat ang mga pulis kapag na-iimbestiga ng krimen. At saka ang lakas ng Federation of Bar Associations dito na dahilan na rin siguro upang mapangalagaan ang mga matatapang sa kanila na ipagtanggol ang mga naaapi. Golly sa Pilipinas, natural lang na makipagkita ang mga parokyano ng lawyer sa kaniya bakit pati iyong mga abogado ng Magdalo hinuli ng mga tarantadong bobo at hoodlum sa military cum police pa? Dito hindi nga puedeng sabihin sa labas ng korte ang mga kumpisal ng nasasakdal kaya ang mga pulis hindi nila puedeng takotin ang mga abogado dito.
Tapos isang gunggong sasabihin sa akin na pumunta ako sa Pilipinas. Ano ko nagpapakamatay. Tanggalin mo si Bansot, at palitan ang sistema ng hustisya diyan e baka sakali pa. Tapos ang ambisyosa gusto pang gawing unicameral ang bastos na pamahalaan e di lalong nakurakot ang mga iyan! Ang bobo naman!
Sa Japan nga o maging sa UK bicameral ang parliament nila at namin para nga walang kumplutan ang mga walanghiya. Lagot pag hindi ninyo binantayan ang mga iyan.
Schumey, ngayon pa lang sinasabi na na before 2007 election, wala nang iboboto sa Senado dahil tatanggalin na ni Bansot!
Gusto yata ng punggok na iyan na mapatay na talaga siya dahil sa palagay ko marami na ang maghuhuramentado kapag hindi pa iyan bumaba! 🙁
Mga KAIBIGAN ko at nag sent na ako ng letter sa North Korea na kung mag test uli ng missile ay sa malacanang na itumbok at tiyakin nandoon ang mga hinayupak na gabineteng na puro palpak at ang mgs GERMS-NERAL na gago at lalo na ang mag asawang ARROVO. Siguro naman ay okey lang sa atin tutal kailangan natin ng tulong. At ngayon ay nag dada ng dada na naman si Gluria at nag papansin sa US at sa ibang bansa. Iyung ngang United nation ay hindi pa nag papalabas ng kanilang pabala eto si reynang magnanakaw ay nag papapel na agad.
To North Korea please send one missile to our beloved fake president. ….. Please… by peoples of the philippines 🙂
Noong unang labanan ni Marcos ang tatay ni Bansot, ang kanyang battle cry laban kay Dadong Macapagal ay “NAKAKAHIYA!”
Ngayon ay dapat muling sabihin iyan … “NAKAKAHIYA!”
Marami na siyang binitawan na mga one-liners:
“ISANG BALA KA LANG!”
“LONG ARAM OF THE LAW!”
Pansinin ninyo kung naging normal Filipina height iyan ay hindi ganyan magsasalita dahil papaano pa nga naman mapapansin ang Bansot kung hindi magngangangawa, di ba?
I like the idea of Mr. Baylon to have our own missile made of pyrotechnics from Bulacan plus hot air from Congress (they have that in excess. hindi kukulangin) and we will name it Hello Garci I and Hello Garci II. Ha! Ha! Ha!
We need to have a comic relief. I’m depressed seeing on TV the captured Magdalo officers.
Dominique:
With my experience working as an interpreter/translator cum investigator in the Japanese police, I am having difficulty believing the lies even about how these soldiers were able to escape in the first place and their guards not being duly punished for allowing them to escape if this is in fact not part of some hocus focus as usual with the AFP and Justice Department to help glorify the lawbreaker, who is being advertised as indispensible, irreplaceable and yes, blasphemously, as duly appointed by God so that no attempt by anybody can succeed to remove her from the palace by the murky river Oh yeah?!
Now, they are being returned to their cells and/or barracks depending on their willingness or not to suffer for their principles, honor and dignity that I am beginning to wonder now if they have such in the first place.
Like you, I feel sorry for them, and how their principles have been twisted that they have become vulnerable and easy to be persuaded to give up and not fight to the end.
I, myself, feel frustrated meeting Filipinos in Japan who go to church for example even when they actually do not seem to know why they are going there. They do not even know that they have actually made their choice, not knowing God from Mammon!
On the other hand, I feel kind of compensated to meet people like Schumey, et al with whom I share a common bond—faith in God, and yes, even faith that He will always provide as long as we do His Will and follow His Commandments, even perhaps the power to topple a corrupt government with our pens!
Yup, iyan ang mga taong may prinsipyo—handang magutom for prinsipyo! Sila ang mananalo! Just wait and see!
Vonjovi1:
Walang email si Kim Pandak, kaya I doubt if he got your message. Wala nga silang koryente sa North Korea dahil hindi sila nakakabayad ng electricity nila! 😛
Unfortunately, wala nang US base diyan sa Pilipinas kaya hindi interesado iyong isa pang pandak sa North Korea unless na sabihin mo sa mga intsik na pakisabi kay Kim Pandak na iyong mga gamit sa Okinawa ng mga kano ay inililipat na sa Mindanao. Pihadong ite-test niya ang pinakamalayong mararating na missile niya doon, pero kawawa naman ang mabibiktima doon dahil itong si Bansot sigurista iyan at hindi iyan pupunta sa Mindanao, to be exact sa Zamboanga na naglipana itong mga horny na sundalong kano!
Noong ngang gumuho ang bundok sa Leyte, isang linggo pa ang dumaan bago pumunta si Bansot doon at wala nang ma-save kaya sinabi niyang magtayo na lang ng malaking cross na parang malaking libingan ng mga namatay doon! Kaya walang mabuti niyan kundi magdasal ka na lang na ma-stroke katulad ni Wycoco! O magdasal tayo na next time magkunyari siyang may sakit na matuluyan sana siya!
On the other hand, kung ako sa iyo magdarasal ako na magbalik-loob ang mga pilipino sa Diyos at kapag worthy na sila ay sagutin na ng Panginoon ang dasal ng 83 percent or more na pilipino na patalsikin na si Bansot!
Maganda ang subject: The Mouse Roars. Sana may kasunod at ipamagat na “The Elephant Runs”. Kilala niyo na kung sino ang tinutukoy kong elepante…kung hindi pa, itanong niyo na lang kay Vicky Toh na madalas nakasakay sa elepante.
Emilio:
Papaalis na kami noong para pumunta sa Amerika nang kalabanin ni Marcos sa election si Dadong Macapagal. Ang alam kong cliche ni Marcos ay “Alis Dyan!” I should know, because despite the fact that I could not vote yet, not having reached the age of majority, I was asked by an uncle, another cousin of Marcos from the Rubio clan, to join the Marcos Youth Movement, and boy did I enjoy shouting “Alis Dyan!”
Those were the days indeed! But I like to reminisce those days and say once again, and this time to the daughter of Dadong Macapagal although someone has told me that this paternity thing should be checked thoroughly likewise, “ALIS D’YAN, TIYANAK!” “ALIS D’YAN, PUNGGOK!” ALIS D’YAN, BANSOT!”
Jinx, All:
I don’t know how true this is but an American friend of mine told me that Bush does not like Bansot. Bush is definitely partial to Koizumi and even to Putin, both of whom he invited to his ranch in Texas.
Funny thing was that when Bansot went to Washington a year or two ago, Bush was actually being civil, but he made sure that the Bansot would no longer be in the US when he invited Koizumi to his ranch at baka magpakumbida rin, and he did not like that.
Ngayon, inggit na inggit si Bansot at trying hard na nagpapapansin, but no dice dahil wala naman talaga siyang maitutulong. Sabi ng mga kano at hapon, “No, no, not that crazy switik to offer us help dahil baka singilin pa tayo niyan at kung ano-ano pang kikil ang gawin niyan!
Kaya ayaw na ni Bush si Gloria kasi noon pandak pa lang si Gloria pero ngayon bansot na. Ewan ko lang kung may pagkaiba ang dalawang salita. Kapag naging tiyanak na si Gloria, siguro papayagan na ni Bush ang CIA na patalsikin ang walanghiyang pekeng pangulo.
Matindi ang galit ni Bush nang nag-pull out si Bansot ng RP troops sa Iraq. Parang sampal kasi sa mukha ni Bush. Pero kailangan pa rin ng Amerika si Pandak…kaya nga nandiyan pa ang kriminal sa puwesto. Ang Amerika kasi…wala silang pakialam kung palpak at napakasama man ang lider ng isang bansa basta ang interest ng Amerika ang naproprotektahan. Kaya ayan…ewan natin kung anu-anong nga compromise at leverage ang ginawa ni bansot. Maraming lihim na hindi natin alam. Ang malinaw lang ay marami nang sundalong Amerikano ang nasa Mindanao. Di niyo ba napansin parang tahimik ang Abu Sayyaf? Palibhasa kasi ang US din ang nag-create ng Abu Sayyaf tulad sa Taliban.
you said it right yuko…sumisikip ang dibdib ko sa inis…kaya pagka nasa mga pre-need office ako na nangangalap ng mga members, pinagkakalat ko talaga na mga galamay ni bruha ang mga ungas na yan at lahat kaming planholders ang mga gatasan…ang big boss ng cap d b taga visayas?…well, saan namigay ng ambon d b sa visayas kc dun may dagdag? san galingt pera, its clear donation. san galing donation, sa taombayan na naghirap mag-ipon…how can the pipol tolerate…i really dnt knw yuko…sukang suka man kaming maliliit na tao, we r nothing, kc kahit na maki march kami at magpabomba sa firetruck, kami pa ang kakasuhan at ikukulong o sampahan ng libel!…my son wants 2 go to japan after graduation in dlsu, pero takot ako kc baka ma-discriminate cz very naive..we can only afford our kids 2 hav a taste of life outside 2 phil as far as beijing, shanghai or bkk lang…for dem to see what i means to live outside d phil n to compare life kahit china lang…
a relative was kidnaped 3 weeks ago n it tuk a wk para ma-release, ang mga naririnig ng relative namin ay “si major” si chief…w/c made everyone decide jst 2 kp quiet…kahit sa pnp di na inisip lumapit kahit anong papel pa nila…so for nw, trauma pa ang family…how can we tolerate?…i dont knw yuko, i dont knw 🙁
The Arroyo admin has weilded that power before. Feeling cocky after “winning” her elections in 2004, she thought that her admin has no more need of the US as “big brother” protector dahil may “legitimacy” na siya. And since Iraq then was beginning to look like a lost cause (with violence spiralling out of control and no WMDs), Arroyo used the kidnapping of a Filipino truckdriver as an excuse to bail out of Iraq and pull out all the troops pre-maturely in mid 2004. (Who knew na kakailanganin niya ulit ang US support dahil sa legitimacy problems niya sa GLORIAGATE… haw haw…)
Nagalit ang US sa Arroyo admin at binawasan nila ang financial aid ng Pinas nung 2005. The Arroyo admin responded by playing the “China Card”, then threatening to pull out all the remaining OFWs from Iraq, essentially crippling the US efforts to rebuild the post-Saddam Iraq.
More here.
The appeals for the OFWs to return home have been repeated by Romulo in August 2005 after a Filipino engineer was killed in Kirkuk.
But now, kung mapapansin nyo, there are no more calls from the DFA for Filipinos in Iraq to go home. In fact, a US company is hiring Filipinos to provide security in Iraq in Subic. Seems like “bati” na ulit ang US at Arroyo admin. I don’t think the Bush admin really trust Arroyo at this point, but they find her useful, and has bought the canard that her alternative replacements are worse. Ergo, may tacit support ang US kay Mrs. Arroyo.
See what the GLORIAGATE crisis can do to change Arroyo’s attidute towards the US? LOL.