The American factor in our politics

The cheek is incredible. But we must deal with it if we must retain the country’s dignity from those who trivialize the Visiting Armed Forces. According to the editorial of the other paper it is all the President’s fault. Like a good Christian, she is invited to turn the other cheek.

I was not privy to the actual conversation between the two Presidents and I suppose neither was the editorial writer. But the writer make conclusions, speculation is how it is described that all this fuss about the VFA came about because President Obama turned down President GMA’s request that the 2010 elections be postponed.

The writer came to this conclusion because questions on the VFA were raised after President GMA’s visit to the US on the invitation of President Obama.

Senator Miriam Santiago’s recent moves in the Senate to recommend the renegotiation of the VFA have been impugned as a maneuver to spite President Obama for President Arroyo’s alleged “unsuccessful” call on the White House to postpone the 2010 elections.

The writer is entitled to speculate as much as he/she wants but the end result of its analysis is to weaken the more important task of correcting, renegotiating a treaty that is onerous and unjust to the Philippines. The VFA agreement, as others have already warned, earlier should never have been signed. But that’s water on the bridge. Now we are compelled to renegotiate the treaty and that is good. The President’s trip to the US, for whatever reason is indeed propitious and one to be welcomed, not deplored.

By all means, renegotiate the VFA if it is disadvantageous to the Philippines. The ball is now in our court, the Philippine court, not just for Mrs. Arroyo, or Senator Santiago or the Senate but the entire country.

Mrs. Arroyo’s leadership will be tested on how she responds this challenge. It would be interesting to watch how the senators respond to it as well. Their lackadaisical performance can indeed be redeemed if they would now close ranks regardless of party affiliation to tackle an issue that is a direct affront to the country’s sovereignty and independence.

They ought to do what is right and good for the country and put their names in history as the Senate that faced the challenge of defending its interest from an onerous agreement.

By all means, they should continue the debate and reexamine Senate Resolution 1356 and deal with its inequities.

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More importantly the public needs to be informed and educated so they are not vulnerable to any propaganda that is certain to be launched against the renegotiation. It would not be surprising if the issue were to be camouflaged and used in squid tactics to attack the Arroyo government itself, disabling it from seeking the best terms for a renegotiated VFA agreement.

Like many others, I plead ignorance of the alleged VFA 2, that Senator Santiago talks about so I cannot comment on it other than what she has already said. “We hardly know anything about VFA 2, and as a result, we do not know what supplementary agreements have been negotiated with the US.” According to her, “VFA 2 is even worse than the original, because it grants certain privileges to the US which are not granted to the Philippines.”

The President working in tandem with the Senate should then decide whether VFA should be renegotiated and if this is not possible because of American intransigence, then it should be terminated. Here is an opportunity for our leaders to demonstrate that they are true leaders of an independent country, not lackeys of a foreign power.

Santiago in her speech pointed to what she called the fatal flaw of the VFA: it fails is to specify the period of stay of the visiting forces. Neither does it define its activities while in the Philippines. Simply put, it is a re-colonization of our country. It is not late in the day. Indeed if we speak of timing it comes at a time when the US is reexamining its own position as the sole superpower in the world today. Other countries like China, India and Brazil while not up to its military strength are just as concerned on how to deal with the waning superpower of an America beset by economic difficulties and internal problems.

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Sometime back, only a few voices could be heard deploring America’s policy on Myanmar. In the Philippines where Western perceptions on geopolitical issues are the norm you could not question the sanctions.

If America says it is good, then it is good even if Myanmar people themselves have said these, in effect punished the people more than it did to bring down the military government.

Today, even pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed a new shift in US policy toward her country. Suu Kyi has staunchly opposed lifting any sanctions against the current regime in Myanmar in the past.

Here in the Philippines, we were not exempted from the influence of the propaganda in media for US and Western sanctions. But there will be no red faces among the local purveyors of American propaganda.

Sanctions may have worked in the past but no longer. Corporations, including those from Western countries and the region were doing business with Myanmar through conduits in Singapore and Thailand.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the shift in US policy. She said the “US was now looking to alternate strategies other than sanctions to directly engage with the military leaders of Myanmar.”

Press reports said it all began last month when US Senator Jim Webb became the first American official to meet with Myanmar’s junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. He came to work for the release of the American who swam to Aung San Su Kyi’s house in Yangon. Suu Kyi and Senator Webb discussed how to bring more interaction between the United States and Myanmar.

Earlier, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also revealed the coming shift. “The United States and Europe seem to be moving toward engaging Myanmar instead of just imposing sanctions on the military-run country.” Engagement is more productive than alienation and isolation, he added.

Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, the reclusive prime minister, will break a 14-year absence from the UN General Assembly and attend the annual gathering of world leaders although this has not been officially announced. A Burmese, U Thant, was once UN Secretary General.