RP should be helped, not punished<\/p>\n
Mely Caballero-Anthony
\nThe Straits Times
\nAsia News Network
\nSingapore<\/p>\n
It has been two weeks since Filipino truck driver Angelo de la
\nCruz was released by militants in Iraq after the Philippine
\ngovernment bowed to the captors' demands to withdraw its troops
\nfrom Iraq.<\/p>\n
President Gloria Arroyo's decision to recall the troops less
\nthan a month earlier than scheduled has been widely criticized,
\nparticularly in the United States and Australia, on two counts.<\/p>\n
One, the withdrawal meant that the Philippines reneged on its
\ncommitment to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and, in effect, to
\nthe war on terrorism.<\/p>\n
Part of the possible fall-out of the Philippines' action is a
\nre-assessment of U.S.-Philippines relations, which had recently
\nbeen revitalized after a decade-long hiatus following the closure
\nof U.S. military bases in the country in 1991. U.S. Ambassador to
\nthe Philippines Francis Ricciardoni has returned to Washington
\nfor urgent consultations with the \"people in Washington (who)
\nwill be the ones making decisions, reassessing bilateral
\nrelations\".<\/p>\n
Given this turn of events, a number of concerns arise: Will
\nWashington now reconsider its financial aid for the country's
\ndevelopment and cut military support for Manila's battle against
\ndomestic insurgencies and terrorism?<\/p>\n
The dictum that \"all politics is local\" bears reiteration
\nhere.<\/p>\n
For the millions of Filipinos who find themselves trapped in
\npoverty-stricken conditions, it is the responsibility of their
\nelected government to address not only the challenges of economic
\ndevelopment, but also to ensure that their security is not
\ncompromised in the name of an \"abstract\" principle of not caving
\nin to terrorists.<\/p>\n
The plight of de la Cruz touched every Filipino with a family
\nmember forced to work overseas because of unemployment at home.
\nAccording to official figures, there are some eight million
\n(registered) Filipino contract workers abroad, who remit close to
\nUS$9 billion (S$15.6 billion) back home.<\/p>\n
The heightened emotions fanned by de la Cruz's possible
\ndecapitation could have triggered a cataclysmic backlash by this
\nmassive force and brought down Arroyo's administration. If this
\nhad happened, it would only have provided fodder to the
\ncommunists and Muslim insurgents who want to destabilize the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The hostage crisis has shown that the Philippines cannot be an
\neffective ally if the government in power is weak, and cannot
\nmuster enough domestic support to remain committed to the U.S.-
\nled coalition. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's recent
\nstatement that \"weakness is provocative\" should indeed be heeded
\n-- but for reasons other than the ones he had in mind.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it is precisely because a state is weak that it needs
\nto be helped.<\/p>\n
Still, the onus is clearly on the Arroyo government to
\nconvince Washington that the country remains committed to the
\nglobal fight against terrorism. This would mean that beyond
\ntrying to justify its actions in Iraq, the government should now
\nseriously confront the problem on two fronts.<\/p>\n
Firstly, it has to show visible progress in its own local war
\nagainst terrorism. Arguably, Arroyo could insist that the fight
\nagainst terrorism begins at home. But the Philippine military,
\nbeing the major recipient of U.S. military aid and counter-
\nterrorism training assistance, must be able to show its
\ncapability to fight terrorism and insurgency.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, having offered crucial assistance to the
\nPhilippines, the U.S. cannot now afford to leave the Philippines
\nalone in this battle.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the much bigger challenge for the Arroyo government
\nis to address some of the root causes of its people's
\ninsecurities -- poverty, corruption and other related issues that
\ninsurgents and terrorists can use to challenge and destabilize
\nany regime.<\/p>\n
The writer is an assistant professor at the Institute of
\nDefense and Strategic Affairs.<\/p>",
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