The more difficult course

How many Filipinos are there in the US? Two million. Why don’t they lobby to get the US to pay up the US$30 million promised to the Philippines as part of the package for supporting President Bush’s war against terrorism? That was how the conversation went between Israeli Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba and a group of Filipinos including myself when she invited us for lunch last Thursday. Indeed, if the world were that simple, I know some Filipinos in America who would be very capable of launching such a lobby and do a very good job of it. I know Filipinos, because of their proficiency and their knowledge of Washington who are hired by other countries to do lobbying for them. But the world is not that simple. For the moment let me just call it ‘a job mismatch.’ Instead the matter is better addressed to Filipinos who have been traditionally in charge of relations with Washington D.C. Although I doubt whether they would have any use for the numbers of the Filipino community in the US. The large Filipino presence in the US and sticky matters between the two countries are not connected as far as diplomatic relations are concerned. Still it was an interesting suggestion coming from the charming Israeli lady ambassador whose country’s lobby in Washington is phenomenal.

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More intriguing was Ambassador Ben-Abba’s view on the US being the sole superpower in the world. She predicted that the rest of the world would come around to accept America’s decision to attack Iraq when the time came with or without the imprimatur of the UN Security Council. That is the reality we have to face with the US being the lone superpower in the world. From my perspective, America may be the sole superpower but this is not without its own vulnerability. I take my cue from Henry Kissinger’s "Does America need a foreign policy?" in which he writes about the possibility of "a hostile Asian bloc combining the most populous nations of the world and vast resources with some of the most industrious peoples" that would be incompatible with the American national interest. Kissinger argues that for this reason "the US must remain in Asia to prevent coalescence into an unfriendly bloc (which is most likely to happen under the tutelage of one of its major powers)." That power is China. In the matter of war in the Middle East, America would have to consider the possibility of other countries, not just in Asia, but in other parts of the world which might coalesce not for the sake of Iraq but for their own sakes. America might be the only super power in the world but it could be argued that for a safer world there must be some sanction when she exercises that power. For the moment, that is the role they have reposed on the UN.

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Kissinger uses a quotation from Winston Churchill on England as a beacon to a position the US might adopt as the sole super power in the world. "For four hundred years the foreign policy of England has been to oppose the strongest, most aggressive, most dominating power on the continent…these four centuries of consistent purpose amid so many changes of names and facts, of circumstances and conditions, must rank as one of the most remarkable episodes which the records of any race, nation, state or people can show. Moreover, on all occasions England took the more difficult course. Faced by Philip II of Spain, against Louis XIV under William III and Marlborough, against Napoleon, against William II of Germany , it would have been easy and must have been very tempting to join with the stronger and share the fruits of his conquest. However, we always took the harder course, joined with the less strong Powers, made a combination among them and thus defeated and frustrated the Continental military tyrant whoever he was, whatever nation he led. Thus we preserved the liberties of Europe, protected the growth of its vivacious and varied society. It is a law of public policy which we are following and not a mere expedient dictated by accidental circumstances, or likes and dislikes, or any other sentiment. But what if strongest, most aggressive, most dominating power in the world was America itself? The responsibility for preserving liberties and the growth of vivacious and varied societies would have to fall on different shoulders. For this reason I am not prepared to agree with the Israeli ambassador.

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On FPJ by Filipinos abroad: The following is an exchange among OFWs that might give a glimpse of the debate going on abroad about 2004 with the imminent passage of the Absentee Voting Bill.

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[email protected] to"Ernie Delfin" [email protected]>Subject: FW: [ProgressiveTimes] A Nightmare I don’t Want to Be Into...

While discussion is healthy, I think Cathy Ledesma’s point is very well said. At this time of the dark ages of the Philippines, we cannot again afford to gamble or second guess the capabilities of the next leader of the Philippines. We should NOT, in ANY way, gamble on FPJ’s abilities to lead the nation. The mere fact that we still entertain the idea is very very sad. FPJ is not the right leader of a long struggling economy like the Philippines’. PERIOD. And let me say that again, PERIOD. At this time, we should already be deliberating who are the viable candidates that we should support (vote wise and financial wise, no matter how small our contribution would be, but they will be very well spent). We should share our American acquired culture that in the US, voters pay for their candidates, unlike in the Philippines where candidates pay or "buy" for their votes.

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Cathy Ledesma to [email protected] While I may grant you that "FPJ or any other non-trapo, represents a new hope for the masses" it’s a far cry from concluding that he is the answer to our problems. Just like Erap represented hope for the masa, the reality turned out to be the exact opposite. Hope represents something ephemeral that needs to be translated into reality. And this is where Erap’s subterfuge was at its most insidious–he played on his diehard supporters’ gullibility by presenting them with an illusion of hope in his presidency while stealing their hopes for a brighter future by ransacking our treasury. FPJ remains an enigma to me to this day, but if his deep and long-standing association with Erap is a gauge of his character, then I would question his desirability for the highest post in the land. As one of Erap’s closest friends, he must have been privy to all the shenaningans that was happening in Malacanang. Therefore his silence in the face of Erap’s sins as president is deafening and bespeaks of one who would stand unconcerned while someone is raping our nation. Good governance begins with knowing right from wrong.

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My e-mail address: [email protected].