Stress ability, not gender

Stress ability, not gender

The article "Two nations, two women, one aim in the Feb. 27
issue of your newspaper may have been an attempt by the writer,
Scott Thompson, to analyze the similarities between the political
campaigns of the incumbent presidents in Indonesia and the
Philippines, but it reads more like an opportunity to take cheap
shots at two national leaders.

I can't speak for his comments regarding President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, but I can tell you that those regarding President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's stature, and unfounded gossip regarding
her private life, do a disservice to a woman who has made a
significant and positive impact on a country that was in ruins
when she assumed office two-and-a-half years ago.

President Arroyo is running for office on the basis of a very
strong record of achievement and an excellent political resume,
not on her height.

Keeping with the writer's focus on size, in calling President
Arroyo's husband a "large Chinese landowner" was he referring to
Arroyo's physique or his land holdings? Neither is relevant
anyway because Arroyo is neither Chinese (he may, like many in
our country, have some Chinese ancestors, but he also has
ancestors who were part of the diverse melting pot that created
the people of the Philippines) nor does he have large land
holdings. Thompson should do a better job of fact checking.

In addition to taking a swipe at the Chinese population in the
Philippines, Thompson also seeks to alienate the 50 percent of
the Philippine population who are female. To say that President
Arroyo has not been taken seriously by men of power is to ignore
the fact that it was both men and women who elected Arroyo by a
landslide as vice president and then subsequently elevated her
into the highest office when her predecessor was removed in
January 2002. We are a nation that places more value on ability
than gender.

CATALINO R. DILEM, JR
Charge d'Affaires, a.i.
Embassy of the Philippines
Jakarta