EDITORIAL – Is this trip necessary?

As of yesterday afternoon different executive departments still couldn’t agree on the exact date of President Arroyo’s departure for the Middle East. Equally uncertain was the date of her return. The Emir of Kuwait, caught flat-footed by the announcement of the vi-sit, sent word he could squeeze the Philippine President into his schedule – surely tight enough with war clouds again looming over his next-door neighbor – only between 10 a.m. and 12 noon on Monday.

Philippine diplomats and labor attachés in the Middle East reportedly advised Malacañang that there was no need for the President’s visit. So who advised the President to leave, together with some Cabinet members and the usual coterie of hangers-on? In addition to regular employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippines has labor attachés deployed throughout the Middle East, which is home to appro-ximately 1.4 million Filipino workers (who by the way are now voters, thanks to the absentee voting bill). Not content, the President organized a team led by Roy Cimatu, who needed a job upon retirement from one of the shortest stints as Armed Forces chief of staff, to assess the situation in the Middle East.

There’s no denying that overseas Filipino workers will need all the assistance they can get if war breaks out in Iraq. But what can the President do in the Middle East, apart from throwing into a frenzy diplomatic missions already deep in preparations for the looming war? What does the government of Kuwait have to say about a President inviting herself for a visit to the emirate on such short notice?

It’s not as if we’re new to this crisis. If war breaks out, it will simply be Part II of the Gulf War that the elder George Bush, when he was the US president, left unfinished in 1991. Even at the height of Operation Desert Storm, then President Corazon Aquino and her Cabinet members stayed home, directing evacuation and relief operations from a nerve center set up at Malacañang.

The Philippines’ diplomatic missions performed well before, during and after the Gulf War. They knew what to do then; surely they know what to do now. With her government running a massive deficit, President Arroyo should lead by example and ask herself if her trip to the Middle East is necessary. If our diplomats and labor attachés aren’t doing their job, they should be recalled. The government can use every cent saved.