Chasing Hillary: Observations of an embedded blogger

MANILA, Philippines - Hillary Rodham Clinton left Manila early yesterday afternoon, leaving pundits, admirers, and protesters to ponder the meaning of her 24-hour state visit. I had an exceptional view of the Clinton trip, having been embedded in her entourage as official blogger. This means I got to ride in van number 12 in her motorcade, sit near the front at her Malacañang press conference and “townterview” town hall meeting, and trail her to all the other stops in her action-packed schedule.

It did not mean that I could interview her or even speak to her. The visit was so tightly choreographed, few in the US Embassy got any face time with her. When I did get an introduction, there was not enough time to ask her all my friends’ questions or relay their good wishes.

I didn’t get to share a meal; everyone involved in the visit barely ate. However, I did get to observe her at fairly close range – with a telephoto lens – and to mull over the complex dynamics at work within her staff and her office. I also saw the effect she had on the people who saw her, including embassy staff, the media, the students at Malanday National High School in Marikina and at the University of Santo Tomas. Judging from the reaction when she arrived at the school in Marikina to present a USAID donation of books, Hillary Rodham Clinton is a star.

All right, one could argue that the Pinoy welcome to a visiting dignitary is always effusive, and she is a world-famous personality. After all she was the first lady of the United States, the senator from New York, and she came closer than any woman in history to becoming President. But there was something at work here besides the teachers’ instructions to show that fabled Pinoy hospitality.

I sensed that the kids were genuinely thrilled to be in her presence. They may not have been aware of her voting record in the Senate, or her groundbreaking work as an advocate of children’s rights, but they felt that they knew her. This is true of the other people who got to see her.

If you consider all the statements she made in the course of her visit, nothing extraordinary was said. The relationship - she referred to it as a partnership—between the US and the Philippines was reaffirmed. She made a strong, and may I say necessary, statement about reproductive rights and family planning, but reminded everyone that it is not America’s place to interfere with other country’s beliefs. She condemned government corruption and called for free and legitimate elections... in Afghanistan and Burma. Apart from the

Philippine-specific questions answered at the town hall meeting, she did not say anything she has not already said in previous fora and in her autobiography. Why, then, did this visit seem special?

I suspect that people were responding to Hillary Clinton not so much as the secretary of state of the United States but as Hillary Clinton the human being. The Filipinos, I think, attach a great importance to a person’s emotional history, the sum of her trials, tribulations, and triumphs. This means that she has truly lived, and is therefore in a position to understand humanity. (Consider how it is not enough for the Filipino moviegoer to see a great performance by an actress. For an actress to be legendary, she must also go through much – maraming pinagdaanan – in her personal life.)

In this case we’re talking about a woman who has taken just about everything her enemies can throw at her, and stayed standing. Her marriage may be the most cruelly scrutinized marriage in recent history. She endured the most humiliating ordeal a wife can be put through, all of it in public. Probably no one has been compared to Lady Macbeth more often than she. During the US election campaign, her character came under heavy bombardment. She has suffered, no question about it, and her suffering binds her with us – the Pinoys who have been through so much individually and collectively. And suffering has made her very strong.

She’s one of us. So we’re here for her.

This woman has dealt with her setbacks with poise and humor. In UST she was asked when she thought the United States would have its first woman president. “I’m the wrong person to ask,” she smiled. “I certainly

tried.” It happened just a year ago, but she has moved on with her life. She’s working for and with President Barack Obama, the man who achieved what she tried to do. From what I’ve seen, she’s working hard.

“Role model” is a hackneyed term, but that’s what Hillary Rodham Clinton is. She has never apologized for what she is: a strong woman.

Never for being strong, and most certainly not for being a woman.