Dollar diplomacy
Dollar diplomacy
Philippine Daily Inquirer Asia News Network Manila
It would be inappropriate for the Philippines to ask for compensation for joining the "coalition of the willing" against Iraq, according to the Philippine ambassador to the United States, Albert del Rosario.
"I don't think it's appropriate to discuss a quid pro quo when a treaty ally is in need of support," he told the Washington bureau of a Philippine newspaper. He was reacting to a suggestion of Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. that the Philippines extract the maximum benefits from the U.S. for its all-out support for the war against Iraq.
Pimentel had said the Philippines was entitled to compensation and other concessions for the use of its air space and refueling facilities, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo offered to the U.S. as her contribution to the war effort.
"What is the quid pro quo" Pimentel asked. But Del Rosario said that was not the way relations between the two countries should be viewed. He was trying to move away from the past transactional relationship and to build a "quality partnership" with the U.S., he explained.
Which sounds good, honorable and dignified. But that it is not the way things are done. Certainly not by the U.S. and not in its efforts to win allies and influence nations to support its war.
U.S. President George W. Bush has been dangling fabulous sums before the eyes of just about any country that would join his "coalition of the willing," making it look more and more like a coalition of the bought.
Only last week, the Bush administration asked the U.S. Congress for a supplemental US$74.7 billion for the war. Of that amount, almost $5 billion is to be allocated for economic and military aid to 19 countries, the Philippines included, purportedly to help them "wage a broader war against terrorism."
Earlier for its help in the campaign in Afghanistan, Pakistan got $600 million in aid from the U.S. aside from having $1 billion in debts written off and $3 billion more rescheduled.
Most instructive, however, was how the U.S. tried to buy temporary basing rights for allied forces in Turkey. The U.S. once offered $27 billion in aid if Turkey would allow the use of its bases from which allied forces could open a northern front against Iraq.
When the Turkish parliament voted the proposal down, the U.S. promptly withdrew the offer. Now U.S. officials are saying Turkey would be lucky if it got $1 billion, even if it has allowed overflight by allied warplanes. If this is not a monetary transaction, if this is not dollar diplomacy, then nothing is.
From Afghanistan to Iraq and even the Philippines, the U.S. has been putting a price tag on every expression of support for its war against terror. So if Del Rosario finds it demeaning to reduce diplomacy to dollars and cents, maybe he should look for another job.
His counterparts in Manila do not hesitate to tell the world how generous they can be to a faithful ally. On the other hand, Filipino officials often use the size of a foreign aid package as a measure of how deep Philippine relations are with one country or the other.
When the President speaks of U.S. support in the war against terrorism, she no longer sees U.S. troops actually shooting at the Abu Sayyaf or the New People's Army but dollars flowing into an ill-equipped Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Now that the administration has gone to bed with the U.S., supporting a war that is unjustified and immoral, it would look ridiculous if it kept up the pretense of being virtuous. Del Rosario must surely know that more foolish than the whore who demands a high price is the whore who gives her services for free.