Rich harvest from China trip

State visits always yield benefits for both visiting and receiving countries.

The China visit of the Philippines’ top officials, headed by President Macapagal-Arroyo, reaped a bountiful harvest. Agreements signed will ac-celerate economic development for the Philippines as well as strengthen further the good relations between the two countries.

Speaker Joe de Venecia spelled out the fruits of the visit. First was the signing of an agreement that will have the Chinese government build and finance the Manila-Malolos-Clark (Pampanga) railway project estimated to cost US$400-million. More than that, even before this project is finished, construction of the Clark-Tarlac-Dagupan (Pangasinan) railways will also begin. These projects will greatly facilitate the travel of commuters and transport of goods from Manila to the northern provinces. As we know, slow and inefficient transportation facilities have partially hindered our economic progress.

The convenience of railroad travel will not be limited to Central Luzon, but will also be experienced in Mindanao. The possibility of a having a Mindanao railroad connection from Iligan City to Cagayan de Oro City is not farfetched. A significant meeting between President Macapagal-Arroyo and Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand in the presence of Senator Aquilino (Nene) Pimentel and Speaker de Venecia, discussed the proposal, which involves Thai financing, with assistance from the German and Austrian governments. The Speaker said that since Thailand has already joined the net credit countries, the Philippine proposal will be seriously considered.

During the state visit, President Macapagal-Arroyo presided over the signing of the purchase by the Philippine Bus Operators of the first 100 Chinese natural gas buses which would eventually lead to the importation of thousands of buses by the private sector, and ultimately result in the reduction of traffic congestion and air pollution. Of course, the buses and natural gas used will be imported from China, but eventually, according to the Speaker, the Philippines will manufacture its own buses since it has its own source of natural gas from the Malampaya project in Palawan.

A Fisheries Agreement commits the Chinese government to build a fishing port in Palawan, which, said the Speaker, faces the Spratleys on the China Sea. Part and parcel of this agreement are a cold storage facility and fish processing plant. Features of the agreement had been earlier proposed by Gov. Joey Reyes and Rep. Abraham Mitra of Palawan, and Speaker de Venecia. The President, along with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Fisheries Director Malcolm Sarmiento and Fisheries Research Director Wesley Rosario succeeded in bringing home the agreement.

And Energy Secretary Vince Perez and PNOI President Ed Manalac succeeded in getting the nod for a seismic survey of the Spratleys, which could lead to an exploratory profit-sharing formula for the exploration and development of the Spratleys, in effect, converting the area "from an area of conflict to an area of cooperation" (the words of President Macapagal-Arroyo), while shelving the issue of sovereignty. Speaker de Venecia, Foreign Secretary Bert Romulo and Justice Secretary Merceditas Guiterrez worked out the appropriate language for the agreement with representatives from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Another "major eye-opener" was the proposal of President Macapagal-Arroyo, Speaker de Venecia and Secretary Romulo for an anti-drug cooperation between China, the Philippines and the United States. De Venecia said the US gained significant ground when this proposal, earlier made by US Ambassador Richard Ricciardone, was approved in principle. We should be expecting an anti-drug Chinese diplomat to be assigned in the Chinese embassy in Manila.

On the issue of military cooperation, President Macapagal-Arroyo and former Chinese President Jiang Zemin explored the possibility of military cooperation to augment the already successful intelligence sharing between China and the Philippines.

Still another good thing for us: Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also pledged more hybrid rice and corn seeds for the Philippines and expanded agricultural credits for three million Philippine farmers. With the hybrid seeds, Philippine rice production will dramatically increase by 100 to 200 per cent.

To sum up, the trip, according to Secretary Romulo, "was one of the most successful visits in the history of our foreign relations history."

Speaker de Venecia said that the man who worked hardest for the success of the visit was Chinese Ambassador in Manila Wu Hombo, who had served as an outstanding representative in Macao for many years.

The China trip was a triumphant one personally for the Speaker who was unanimously elected for the third time as chair of the Standing Committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties. He had been nominated by the Communist Party of China – the largest political party in the world – , Thai Foreign Secretary Saathiratha Surakiart, who is Thailand’s candidate for the position of Secretary General of the United Nations, and Prince Samdech Norodom Ranariddh, president of the 14th Cambodian Parliament (and son of former Cambodian President Norodom).

President Macapagal-Arroyo and Thai Prime Minister Thaiksin Shirawatra publicly acknowledged the Speaker as "the visionary founder" of the ICAP. Listening to the words of praise of the two leaders were delegates of 85 Asian political parties. That such a giant gathering of Asian political leaders took place in Beijing came as no surprise to the Speaker. "I did that in the past in Manila – in 2000, and in Thailand in 2002." He was also elected unanimously as chair in those two conferences. He was not in government but a private citizen when he organized the first ICAP conference in 2000.

It is worth noting – what opposition Senator Joker Arroyo said about the members of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s family being with the delegation. It is an Asian cultural practice to bring members of the family to conferences like that in Beijing – and this, the Chinese government recognized.

Foreign Secretary Romulo himself said that the Chinese visit was one of the most successful in the Philippines’ foreign relations history.

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