‘RP-US relations remain good’

Despite differences between the Philippines and the United States over the early withdrawal of Filipino troops from Iraq, relations between the two countries remain strong, a foreign affairs official said yesterday.

Speaking at the regular breakfast forum of the Manila Overseas Press Club at the Ristorante La Dolce Fontana in Greenhills, San Juan, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin said it is normal for countries to clash occasionally over policy decisions since each country has different interests to uphold.

He explained that the Philippines’ national interest, as shown during last month’s hostage crisis, is to protect Filipinos above everything else but this apparently did not coincide with US interests.

"Before the hostage-taking, our national interest coincided with US interests. Now when that hostage-taking took place, it changed because we had the life of a Filipino at stake," Ebdalin said.

"We have to view that interest in the light of other interests. We try to balance the ball. The primary interest that the President took into consideration is the life of a Filipino," he added.

Ebdalin stressed that the withdrawal of the Filipino troops from Iraq, in response to the demand of Iraqi militants who held Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz hostage, does not mean the Philippines’ commitment to fight terrorism has weakened.

"Our vital interests lie wherever there are Filipinos. Our seven million overseas Filipinos are in over 165 countries and on ships on all the world’s oceans. It is within this reality... of the Filipino diaspora that we (crafted) our foreign policy," he said.

Ebdalin explained that while "our allies are important to us... (they) will have to understand that even as we hold them in the highest esteem, the protection of overseas Filipinos will have to come first."

There were questions raised about the status of the Philippines’ membership in the "coalition of the willing" after US Secretary of State Colin Powell hinted that the country is already out of the loop.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert responded by saying the Philippines is still part of the coalition even without contributing any more personnel to the coalition’s peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in Iraq.

"The objective of sending this force to Iraq is to fight terrorism. We may not have a military contingent there but we are still there in terms of assisting the coalition in its objectives" by providing moral and political support, Ebdalin said.

On the other hand, a lawmaker claimed he was assured by an official of the US Embassy that policy differences between the two countries will not affect the delivery of military aid.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said Terry Cook, the US defense attaché, assured him that the US will stand by the commitments it made under the Mutual Defense Treaty despite the recent incident in Iraq.

Suarez, who served as vice chairman of the House committee on defense for nine years, said the "high-value military hardware" will be delivered as scheduled. These hardware include used and refurbished helicopters, M-16 rifles, telecommunications equipment and two C-130 planes.

"The statement (of the military attaché) is that there is no stopping. There is no order, no measure the United States government is doing to stop, postpone or delay the transfer of vital hardware to our country," Suarez quoted Cook as saying.

Questions were raised during the forum on the relations between the US and the Philippines following President Arroyo’s decision to withdraw Filipino troops from Iraq a month ahead of schedule to comply with demands by Iraqi militants.

The US government aired its disappointment with the Philippines’ decision, claiming Manila had given in to terrorists.

When asked about the effect of the pullout of troops on relations between two countries, Powell had said "how that affects our policy in the future remains to be seen," though he assured that "we remain friends, we remain allies."