Face to face with Gaddafi

TRIPOLI – The Philippine delegation led by Speaker Jose de Venecia was kept on tenterhooks before we were able to meet with Libyan leader Gaddafi. The Libyan leader was busy entertaining Spanish President Jose Aznar, who incidentally is also President of the Centrist Democrats International, of which JDV is vice president for Asia. The expectation was Gaddafi would call at the Conference but he came down with the flu. He showed his special affection for Filipinos who were suddenly called to meet him at this Tripoli residence. The meeting conferred the Congressional Merit of Achievement on Gaddafi. Congressman Teodoro Locsin read the citation, while the Speaker and his wife, Gina, helped don the medal with ribbon with the colors of our flag on Gaddafi.

It is a great credit to the Philippines that the final communiqué of the conference includes support for the Arroyo-De Venecia proposal of an interfaith council in the United Nations. Its inclusion as an urgent task means it can count on the votes of a wide block of Arab and African nations. The draft was read in the closing ceremonies, but the final version was still being worked on by the executive council. Those I spoke to praised the Philippine participation through the speech of Speaker Jose de Venecia because it offered a concrete proposal to move Libya’s initiatives for dialogue and peace.

In his response to the citation, Gaddafi said he was thankful for the award but if the Libyans had worked hard, it was not the award but for the sake of peace in the Philippines. Most importantly, it was consistent with Libya’s initiatives for peace. He said now that there was no oppression of the Muslims in Mindanao, there was no need for war or conflict. Libya’s work in the Philippines will continue through the World Islamic Call Society headed by Gamal N. Ahmed who was appointed its representative in Manila recently. The Libyan group will concentrate on humanitarian work and economic initiatives. Libyan Ambassador Salem Adem did a yeoman’s job to make sure that the Philippines played an important role in the conference.

Picture-taking with the legendary Ben Bella. It was a star-studded conference with ex-Algerian President Ben Bella, Minister John Dali of Malta, the Italian undersecretary of interior, Dr. Munji Abu Snaina of the ALESCO, among others. For me it was especially poignant to meet with 86-year-old Ben Bella, the hero of the Algerian revolution and take a picture with him. As he is very tall man, he bent over for the photographer to get a good shot. He delivered a speech stressing the importance of this even in spreading the good will of Islamic culture. He praised the conference for its theme taarut – or the spirit of knowing each other. He called the Tripoli conference a ‘humanist’ gathering. He said the conference was in the right direction and thankful to Gaddafi for making it possible. To me, it was great to personally meet with the legendary warrior who humbly mixed with the rest of the conference attendees. Here was a once powerful and courageous man mixing with us without any arrogance or self-importance, able to retire and be content with work he had done when it was called for.

Also here was the daughter of ex-Italian President Francesco Cossiga who read her father’s message. She stressed the importance of the role played by WCIC in serving human causes and spreading the Islamic culture through dialogue and understanding. She said the conference was very important because the world was in dire need of dialogue and debate so differences can be brought out into the open. It is my opinion that this conference was a gathering of moderates of different faiths and the best answer to terrorism. Bishop Capalla who is on his way to Rome to report to the Pope represented Catholics in the Philippines. Other Filipinos in the group were Ahmad Nooh Darping of the World Islamic Peoples Leadership, former Congressman Michael Mastura who is part of the peace panel, Dr. Mahid Mutilan, regional vice governor of the Department of Education, and Bishop Hilario Gomez of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

People for constitutional reform: It was good to be able to speak to Senator Manuel Villar who was here in Tripoli who said, if something good is necessary, it can be done in one day. There is already a report submitted by Civil Society and includes transitional provisions under study by both houses for several weeks now.

In this regard, let met quote from Felipe Soriano, Senior Project Engineer-MechSAMREF Technical Dept. in Riyadh whose opinions reflect more and more Filipinos. He said at first he did not quite understand why this column recommends constitutional reform. "Initially, your message did not register well in my mind, but when I really thought about it, I realized that it seems to be the only way." He is now convinced that for the country to really take off economically like Malaysia or Thailand (Singapore, Taiwan & Korea are too far away to aspire for), it should have a good leader for at least 3 terms (18 years." Eighteen years was approximately the minimum time it took for South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia to approach 2nd world status. Therefore, the only way for the Philippines to progress (short of a miracle), is "good leadership" for at least 18 years.

It is unlikely we will elect this good and qualified president under the present system. But if by a slim chance we elect a good president who puts reforms into action, these will be short-lived and not enough to stabilize the economy. "The accomplishment of the good will be canceled by the bad President. It is clear, there is no salvation for us with the present way of choosing a leader," Soriano adds. Amending the constitution to shift to parliamentary system at the earliest possible time seems to be the only solution. If we wait after May 2004, then we merely condemn ourselves to this vicious circle.

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