Moving on

The less said by the administration about the pullout of the Philippine humanitarian contingent from Iraq, the quicker that incident will be forgotten and the faster it will be for all parties concerned to move on.

President Arroyo has already said everything she needs to say about her decision: no apologies, she wanted to save a Filipino life.

She need not attempt to mollify peeved allies by embellishing her decision with tall tales about deciding to withdraw the Philippine team from Iraq even before truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was kidnapped.

The message from Deputy Foreign Secretary Rafael Seguis to the kidnappers was clear enough: the Philippines would withdraw in exchange for the life of De la Cruz.

If the President insists on the latest version of her decision-making, it would mean that she lied all along when she personally reassured US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and even his boss, Secretary of State Colin Powell, right up to the eve of the issuance of Seguis’ statement, that her government would not negotiate with terrorists.

The President can point out that the Bush administration also lied to its allies when it asked them to support a war on the basis of deeply flawed intelligence. But she has not done so, preferring instead to keep putting newer and wilder spins on her decision to pull out the troops. If you’ve been fooled by a friend, wouldn’t it be better to keep the moral high ground by not fooling him back?

When President Arroyo committed the Philippines to the war in Iraq, some quarters warned that it could open Filipinos to counterattack. The President was aware of the risks but went ahead anyway. The hostage crisis involving Angelo de la Cruz dramatically exposed the nation’s weaknesses.

Let’s admit it: US President George W. Bush’s credibility took a big hit over his decision to attack Iraq. But so did President Arroyo’s credibility in the eyes of her allies when she capitulated to the demands of kidnappers. Any attempt to gloss over that capitulation can only elicit a wince.

She should at least learn her lesson from that retreat. Next time the Philippines is called to the frontlines in the war on terror, she knows the nation’s vulnerabilities and will know when to say no.

* * *

Washington and other coalition members should at least realize that the Philippine withdrawal was done with agonized reluctance. It took all 43 members of the contingent about two weeks to return to Manila. Initially it was clear to many that there was even an attempt to deceive the kidnappers, when the government announced the withdrawal of eight members of the contingent who were no longer in Iraq in the first place. When the kidnappers didn’t bite, President Arroyo made her decision.

Philippine officials should stop wringing their hands over US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher’s statement that the Philippines is no longer part of the coalition. He was simply stating a fact: the Philippine contingent has been pulled out, and there is no sign that it will return.

The countries that remain part of the coalition in Iraq have committed not to give in to the demands of terrorists, insurgents or whatever you want to call kidnappers in that country. Obviously we can’t make that commitment, so we’re out of the coalition.

Our government need not worry about our workers being eased out of jobs in the reconstruction of Iraq. Filipinos have been entering Iraq from neighboring countries despite a deployment ban imposed by Manila. Unless coalition members ban the hiring of overseas Filipino workers in Iraq — which is unlikely, since the report is that in many instances, only Filipinos are daring (or foolhardy) enough to take on jobs in high-risk areas — our OFWs will continue finding jobs in that war-torn country.

Those OFWs don’t sit around waiting for their government to issue flip-flopping policy statements or make international commitments that can be broken any time. They are not on a mission to build a bastion of democracy in a sea of Islamist fundamentalism; they are simply looking for jobs.

* * *

Australian Ambassador Ruth Pearce has a pragmatic approach to all this diplomatic hand wringing. We shouldn’t let politicians ruin robust diplomatic ties, she told STAR editors Friday night.

"I don’t think our relationship is at risk," she said. "We all need each other."

Pearce, who was trapped in the Oakwood apartments in Makati during the mutiny last year, has been to Mindanao several times. Her government has substantial aid programs to develop the most impoverished areas of Mindanao, including places believed to be harboring Jemaah Islamiyah militants. Those programs will continue despite the flap over Iraq.

Pearce has been summoned by Foreign Secretary Delia Albert and the Australian embassy here has been pelted with marshmallows over statements made by Australia’s prime minister and foreign minister. After both sides have let off steam, Pearce thinks it’s time for both countries to move on.

There are so many problems in this world, Pearce said, that it’s a wonder why anyone would want to become president – of any country, she emphasized.

If she thought President Arroyo saved Angelo de la Cruz to save herself, the charming Pearce would never say it.

* * *

And neither would Ricciardone, who finally emerged in public Friday, at the Manila Overseas Press Club’s President’s Night, after slipping back into the country last week from Washington.

Ricciardone deftly fended off with diplomatese questions about Boucher’s statements and the status of bilateral ties. We’ll probably get something clearer when he issues a joint statement with Albert today.

The Bush White House is clearly displeased with the Phi-lippine pullout. I don’t know how Ricciardone is going to finesse that in Manila. But from his statements and interaction with the President Friday night, they both seemed ready to move on.

To illustrate the continuing bilateral partnership in the war on terror, the President recalled traveling with Ricciardone to Camp Abubakar, the former stronghold of separatist Muslims in Maguindanao. She said Ricciardone’s vehicle got stuck in the mud along a river with big boulders in a raging storm.

It gets better with the retelling, a smiling Ricciardone said at the end of the MOPC event. At least he was not referring to the President’s decision to withdraw the Philippine contingent from Iraq.