Arroyo must review stance on U.S.-led war<\/p>\n
Conrado de Quiros, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila<\/p>\n
It's not Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a presidential daughter and
\nrecent beneficiary of people power, who is giving voice to
\nSoutheast Asia in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
\nforum; it is Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, another
\npresidential daughter and beneficiary of people power, who is.<\/p>\n
In contrast to Macapagal's mindless repetition of the American
\nmantra on anti-terrorism, Megawati has risen to proclaim before
\nthe world: \"Whoever commits terror must be punished. However, the
\nsearch for and the bringing to justice of the perpetrators of
\nterror or those parties who harbor them must be in accordance
\nwith law that is generally acceptable.<\/p>\n
\"It is unacceptable that someone, a group, or even a
\ngovernment -- reasoning that they are searching for perpetrators
\n-- attack a people or another country for whatever reason. Blood
\ncannot be cleansed by blood.\"<\/p>\n
Megawati obviously has a better grasp of the sentiments of the
\nregion, of the folly that is the American bombing of Afghanistan;
\nshe has a better grasp of what it takes to fight terrorism.<\/p>\n
Macapagal might be really desperate to cull American favor to
\nboost her chances in 2004. She would delude herself to think she
\nwould loom large as a world-class statesman with it. The image of
\nthe Philippines as America's right arm in Asia has never elicited
\nawe from other Asian countries, it has elicited laughter.<\/p>\n
At the very least, the tack is suicidal. The overseas Filipino
\nworkers (OFW), as government keeps reminding us, are the
\nlifeblood of the country, who keep the economy afloat. Well,
\nwhere are many of those OFWs but in the Middle East?<\/p>\n
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already issued an
\nadvisory to Filipinos in those parts of the world to not be too
\nvocal about their support for the American cause to avoid
\ntrouble. It did so in the wake of the shooting of a Canadian and
\nhis Filipino wife while they shopped in a mall in Kuwait. The
\nCanadian died while the Filipino was seriously wounded.<\/p>\n
But the DFA misses its target. Its advisory is not best issued
\nto the OFWs, most of whom possess not only common sense but
\npossess uncommon ability to see things from the perspective of
\nthe people they live with.<\/p>\n
It is best issued to the President of the Philippines herself.<\/p>\n
Macapagal's espousal of the American cause, done with a zeal
\nover and above the call of duty, opens our OFWs up not just to
\nmayhem but to all sorts of discrimination. It openly invites
\nmaltreatment, quite apart from shipping back to the Philippines.
\nIt will not make Filipinos the first choice in hiring or the last
\nin firing. You would think that the APEC, being expressly
\nconcerned with the survival of nations, would inspire some sense
\nof realism in Macapagal. It has not.<\/p>\n
But Macapagal's tack is not just suicidal, it is wrongheaded.
\nIt is not just the Muslim countries -- Indonesia and Malaysia --
\nthat are lukewarm to the anti-terrorist cause being espoused by
\nthe Americans in APEC. It is also the other Asian countries. You
\nwon't hear the Indo-Chinese countries rooting for it. You won't
\nhear Thailand applauding it. You won't even hear Singapore, the
\nmost iron-fisted country in the region, trumpeting it.<\/p>\n
Who in God's name wants terrorism? But the point is not what
\nand when, it is how and why. That is what the other countries, as
\nvoiced out by Megawati, want to know. She does not speak for the
\nMuslim countries alone, she speaks for the Asian continent as a
\nwhole.<\/p>\n
Only the Philippines is willing to believe there can only be
\none campaign against terror, and that is the one America is
\ncalling for. Only the Philippines is willing to believe that
\neither you agree to such things as the bombing of Afghanistan,
\nthe rearming of Southeast Asia, and the blanket endorsement of
\nAmerican global policy, or you are a supporter of terrorism, if
\nnot a terrorist yourself.<\/p>\n
Our own experience in dealing with the Abu Sayyaf should have
\nshown the folly of that belief. The Abu Sayyaf is obviously a
\nterrorist group. How to destroy them? We answered that by
\nunleashing the dogs of war on the island of Basilan, reasoning
\nthat the people there were guilty of harboring them, and must pay
\nthe price for it.<\/p>\n
The result being that instead of alienating the Abu Sayyaf
\nfrom the people of Basilan and the Muslim community in general,
\nwe gave the latter a reason if not to find common cause with them
\nat least to commiserate with them.<\/p>\n
The same is true of Afghanistan. How to destroy Osama bin
\nLaden and his Al-Qaeda network? The United States has answered
\nthat by unleashing the winds of war on Afghanistan, reasoning
\nthat the people there are guilty of harboring them and must pay
\nthe price for it.<\/p>\n
The result being that instead of alienating the terrorists
\nfrom the Afghan people and the Muslim ummah (community)
\ngenerally, it has given the latter if not a reason to find common
\ncause with them at least to commiserate with them.<\/p>\n
And now we want to internationalize that idiocy and make it
\nthe hallmark of our foreign policy? No wonder we call it a
\nforeign policy. It is monumentally foreign to us.<\/p>",
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