The Wily Filipino

About that Dinner Again.

Eileen -- you have no idea how many times I've tried to connect to your site (as with other Blogspot sites) -- excerpts an article from the Washington Post about that dinner again:

Bush praised Arroyo as "a fierce fighter of terrorism in your own country. You've earned the respect of the American people for your resolve. And after September the 11th, you were one of the first leaders to contact me and express your strong support for the war against terror. And you have not wavered."

"Friends stand by each other," she responded. "In times of crisis, friends do not ask why. They ask how."

There's a nice rhythm to this give and take -- obviously they weren't actually having a conversation, but it reminds me of those skits that I used to put on to promote Sunday School and Bible study fellowship to the teenagers in my church. (Believe it or not -- I shall have to write about my fall of grace one of these days... the post will be called "The Road to Apostasy.")

No, wait -- it reminds me of how Emily Elizabeth would sum up the lesson for the day on Clifford, the Big Red Dog (no offense to the show, which my daughter really likes). ("Today, Clifford learned about cooperation...")

One of the presents in Macapagal-Arroyo's "goodie bag" -- man, Philippine News is getting sharper and sharper -- was this:

The two Presidents agreed on legislation extending new benefits to Filipino WWII veterans based in the U.S. Among these are: full-rate service connected disability compensation; eligibility for burial at national cemeteries and burial benefits for New Scouts; full-rate dependence and indemnity compensation (DIC) to the survivors of New Scouts, Commonwealth Army veterans and guerrillas, and comprehensive health care eligibility to Commonwealth Army veterans and New Scouts.

Which explains why Principi, Ganio and Lachica were invited to the dinner (but they didn't get the pension, though). (Jennie Ilustre emphasizes at the beginning of the article, however, that the Philippines had wanted to get more -- $380 million vs $100 million. "It became clear the state visit was more about photo ops, and less about opportunities," she writes.)

But what a photo op for her anyway. Nelson Navarro compares Macapagal-Arroyo's relatively stellar reception to the lukewarm brown-bag lunches Ramos received way back when, but it's still "begging-bowl diplomacy," as he puts it, when all is said and done.

Emil Guillermo, right underneath Navarro's mug on page 5, has gone amok as usual and pushes her to remember Filipinos overseas as well:

The World Bank just released figures that said that in 2002 for the first time, more money flowed from poor migrants in rich countries like the U.S. than the combined total of government aid, private bank lending and IMF/World Bank aid and assistance.

Do you understand what that means?

That means Manong Boy and Auntie Baby who work the hotel/restaurant beat and send back money through LBC to their family back home, are doing more to prop up the Philippine economy than anyone gives them credit.

And he ruminates, no pun intended, on the possible "chew toys" GMA might receive:

All the hoopla and attention of the week should be a nice payback to President GMA for loyalty beyond the call of lapdog.

So of course, now she’s looking for her bone.

Guillermo holds back on criticizing what's humming in Gloria's goodie drawer -- he does get a nice potshot at Bush's "doggy-style politics" -- but man, can't anyone see what she's traded to get equity for the Filipino veterans?

But back to that dinner. My first reaction was that it was extremely different from the guest lists during Clinton's administration. My second reaction was that it was decidedly low-watt. I mean, who selects the people to be invited? I can see that there were really rather few business connections -- eBay, UPS, a few others, and Gigot to write all about it -- but otherwise, not that much there. Is this par for the course at state dinners, or...?

The other interesting point were, as I'd pointed out before, the Filipino Americans. (I can't imagine Gloria gettin' down to Neal McCoy, much less even heard of him -- can you?) What an odd coterie of people: a former Miss America? An Olympian boxer? An ex-mayor? And none of the usual Philippine News quotables -- no Veloria, Cayetano, Mabilangan-Haley, Nicolas-Lewis, Clemente, Bulos, or even good ol' Alex Esclamado? And jeez, doesn't Michelle Malkin deserve a doggie treat thrown her way at least? Are Filipino Americans simply under Bush's radar? (Well, there are all those chefs and stewards in the White House...)

There are a couple of ways to interpret this: one, that the guest list was slapped together by some clueless drone, or, more likely, that this was never really about Filipinos (or Filipino Americans) in the first place. This simply looks like an elaborate scratch behind the ear for the U.S.'s ally in the Far East, a big thumbing of the nose to Chirac and Schroeder and all those other folks who won't be eating out of the same food bowl with Bush anytime soon, a relatively inexpensive gesture to remind the world that the war on terrorism in Asia apparently isn't over.

And so I'll end with an excerpt from Sen. Robert Byrd's recent, much-quoted speech, which reminds us why being on Bush's buddy list is ignominious anyhow:

...the Bush team's extensive hype of WMD in Iraq as justification for a preemptive invasion has become more than embarrassing. It has raised serious questions about prevarication and the reckless use of power. Were our troops needlessly put at risk? Were countless Iraqi civilians killed and maimed when war was not really necessary? Was the American public deliberately misled? Was the world?

And so Byrd ends -- god, this speech should be disseminated far and wide:

I contend that, through it all, the people know. The American people unfortunately are used to political shading, spin, and the usual chicanery they hear from public officials. They patiently tolerate it up to a point. But there is a line. It may seem to be drawn in invisible ink for a time, but eventually it will appear in dark colors, tinged with anger. When it comes to shedding American blood - - when it comes to wreaking havoc on civilians, on innocent men, women, and children, callous dissembling is not acceptable. Nothing is worth that kind of lie - - not oil, not revenge, not reelection, not somebody's grand pipedream of a democratic domino theory.

And mark my words, the calculated intimidation which we see so often of late by the "powers that be" will only keep the loyal opposition quiet for just so long. Because eventually, like it always does, the truth will emerge. And when it does, this house of cards, built of deceit, will fall.

Posted by the wily filipino at May 23, 2003 11:18 AM