Handling relations with Thailand

We should be careful in handling Thailand, a neighbor and a friend in ASEAN. The criticisms of Prime Minister Thaksin aired this week over our handling of the current SEA games should not cloud what has been excellent diplomatic relations all these years.

Our Sports officials, led by Mr. Jose Cojuangco, have said their pieces, in effect refuting the oblique claims of PM Thaksin that there was cheating in the games. On the part of the president, she has called for an investigation on the cheating.

We don't really know whether or not there was cheating that occurred during the games. How do we know that some overzealous Philippine sports officials may have maneuvered to influence some of the neutral judges to favor the hosts? But in truth, it would be hard to cheat because the referees are neutral.

What is important in this case is that the Philippines, both as a country and as a people, should not tolerate cheating. And that point, we should stress to the people and leaders of Thailand whose relations we value. If cheating really happened, then we should apologize to our ASEAN brothers.

I don't think it is necessary to take up Thaksin's charges of cheating in the next Summit of ASEAN leaders. The issue does not involve the whole of ASEAN. Perhaps, a one-on-one meeting between President GMA and Thaksin on the side of the Summit would be enough.

On the part of the sports leaders of the country, we should balance our role as hosts and as competitors. Of course, we want to win the games, but not at the cost of incurring the ire of the rest of Southeast Asia. Let the Thaksin statement and criticism warn us in the future.

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73rd journalist bites the dust

The members of Samahang Plaridel, a group of journalist headed by Mr. Max Soliven of the Philippine Star, are sad over the slaying of journalist George Benaojan.

We are awaiting more details about this case so that we can help in whatever way to insure that the case is investigated by Camp Crame. In previous cases, we have approached PNP chief Arturo Lomibao to hasten the investigation of executions of journalists.

The usual question that crops up in a case like this: Was this journalist killed in line of duty? I believed that question has become irrelevant. A human being has been killed. In addition, the guy performs an act of a journalist and that is also important because it involves the constitutional provision of freedom of the press. Those who don't believe in press freedom can muddle the issue by saying that the slain journalist has other professions. But that is missing the point. The guy performs the act of journalism, and this fact should end the debate.

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BRIEF NOTES. Vice President Noli de Castro remains an ally of President GMA, despite the deadline set by the Black and White Movement... The B&W group has publicly called on the VP to dump GMA by November 30 this year, otherwise the group would no longer consider him as a constitutional successor... On the day of the deadline, the VP said: "Meaningful deadlines like the relocation program are challenging. This is why I devoted most of my time in relocating poor families from the railways to their new homes in Bulacan"... A bit sarcastic, the VP referred to his deadline to clear the passage way for the Northrail transit.

After the VP's rejection, the B&W Movement announced that Senate President Franklin Drilon was the more acceptable alternative to GMA... Former commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was scheduled to be in Manila by yesterday, according to his lawyer Eddie Tamondong. Ed was supposed to our guest at the Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel last Saturday but begged off at the last minute because of the call from Mindanao where Garci was... Ed said that Garci would surely be at House hearing on Wednesday...