GMA’s US visit could raise $2-B in economic, military deals

WASHINGTON — President Arroyo could raise as much as $2 billion in business deals, economic support funds, military assistance and grants from the government and private sector during her state visit to the United States starting May 18.

Informed sources said Monday some of the money could start flowing almost immediately, the rest over a period of several years.

Filipino diplomats here are keeping mum on details of the package so as not to preempt Mrs. Arroyo, the latest in a string of foreign visitors to Washington following the US victory in the war against Iraq.

The first visitors after the war were British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

They all bucked opposition from most of the rest of the world, as well as their own citizens to support Bush and were rewarded with an overnight stay at the "Texas White House" in Crawford.

But the Philippine embassy in Washington said that in regular consultations with the White House about Mrs. Arroyo’s state visit, the matter of a visit to Crawford on any date was never brought up.

Nevertheless she is only the third president to be invited on a state visit since Bush assumed office.

Soon after Mrs. Arroyo leaves Washington, Bush will welcome Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan at his Crawford ranch on May 22-23.

Mrs. Arroyo was also a staunch member of the "coalition of the willing," which supported the US invasion of Iraq.

Sources said Mrs. Arroyo had hoped to announce during her state visit a $1 billion loan spread over five years, which her administration is seeking to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

But the US turned down the request and instead hinted at increased foreign military financing (FMF) and foreign military sales (FMS) in the years ahead for one of its most valuable allies in the global war against terrorism, sources added.

Total US military assistance for the Philippines for fiscal year 2003 is slightly over $100 million, the benchmark with which future assistance to the AFP will be measured.

US business sources said some of the deals still being hammered out for Mrs. Arroyo include the sale by a private company of four C130 planes and a memorandum of understanding with a US consortium for a $10 million survey of a model secure port either in Batangas or Manila.

Funding for the survey is likely to come from the new Department of Homeland Security.

A proposal by a network business software and services company to set up a backroom processing support system in the Philippines is also under consideration.

The business highlight of Mrs. Arroyo’s trip to the US will be a roundtable discussion she and members of her Cabinet will have on May 20 with CEO’s of ten of American’s leading companies sponsored by the US-ASEAN Business Council.

They include AIG, a leading US-based international auto, health, life insurance and financial services organization; Citigroup, the largest US-based bank holding company; Edison Mission Energy, which operates large power plants in the Philippines; and Textron, makers of Bell helicopters.

Also among the group are Federal Express, UPS, Unicol, which hopes to get into natural gas in the Philippines, international power generation firm InterGen and Mirant, also an energy company.

The US-Asean Business Council said the discussions will focus on areas in which the US and the Philippines can work together to identify opportunities to boost trade and investment.

Meanwhile, more than 500 Italians have sent a petition to Bush requesting a cleanup of former US military bases in the Philippines.

A copy of the petition in Italian and English was sent by the People’s Task Force for Bases Cleanup (PTFBC) to Malacañang so the President could bring up the matter when she meets with Bush during her state visit.

"We deplore the fact that the innocent lives, especially tens and thousands of Filipino children who are born disabled, who die while they are young and are deprived of a clean and safe environment is a violation of international laws on the environment, including the UN Convention of the Rights of Children," read the petition.

Myrla Baldonado, PTFBC chairwoman, said the petition was launched in Italy by Italian peace and child advocate Roberto Mauri who had been involved on child rights issues in the Philippines for many years.

The petition, addressed to Bush, was written in Italian and signed by some 500 Italian nationals even before the US launched its war in Iraq. –With Ding Cervantes