'GMA visit to Washington not a mere Kodak moment'

WASHINGTON – President Arroyo’s visit to Washington is important to the United States and is not, as some of her Filipino opponents suggest, a trip of “no big deal” or a mere “Kodak moment” with President Barack Obama, US political analysts said.

Mrs. Arroyo is the first leader from Southeast Asia invited by the Obama administration for talks in Washington as a show of solidarity with an old and valued ally, they said.

It will also be her fourth visit to the White House in eight years.

Her first visit was in November 2001 following the shock 9/11 terrorist strike against US targets.

In May 2003 she was invited for a rare state visit as a reward for being one of the first foreign leaders to support then President George W. Bush in Iraq, and in May 2008 she was again invited to the White House by President Bush.

After three failed attempts for a face-to-face meeting with Obama since his inauguration in January, Arroyo has been invited for her fourth visit to the White House on July 30.

US analysts dismissed allegations by her political opponents that she will seek Obama’s support to remain in power beyond her six-year mandate as ridiculous.

Obama is not in the business of anointing foreign politicians and Arroyo knows it is pointless to go this route, they said.

“If he (Obama) speaks of developments in the Philippines it will be to speak for constitutional order in the country,” said Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

He said the US considered Arroyo’s visit to be a “big deal” and in talks with her would likely emphasize the need to accelerate the Philippines’ military effectiveness and how best to battle terrorism.

“The Philippines needs a credible force to be effective in the regional balance and in combating terrorism,” he said.

Richard Cronin of the Henry L. Stimson Center said the biggest problem for the Philippines was the need to rebalance its economy.

“It must find a way to somehow rely less on exports of labor and remittances because the world is changing,” he said.

“My personal view is that it is depressing that after all these years the Philippines has not been able to find jobs for its people. Politics is dysfunctional,” he added.

Meanwhile, the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, in a letter to Obama on Sunday, lamented the “slow approval process and unacceptable delays in equity payments to” surviving warriors.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 recognizes the military service of Filipino World War II veterans and grants a lump sum of $15,000 for US-based veterans and $9,000 for those living in the Philippines.

But the ACFV in its letter said that of the 34,140 applications filed with the US Department of Veteran Affairs since the passage of the act in February, only 10 percent have been approved as of June 30.

The ACFV said this situation was truly unkind to the veterans and it was its hope the Obama-Arroyo meeting “will positively address our issue.”

Not joining trip

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has begged off from joining Mrs. Arroyo’s US trip as senators called on her to get better deals with Obama.

Only Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, and Manuel “Lito” Lapid, an administration ally, are joining the President. But Lapid needs to get clearance from the Sandiganbayan due to a pending graft case.

Santiago said the Philippines might get some benefits from the US visit of Mrs. Arroyo but stressed the President must make sure the country’s sovereignty would not be compromised with any agreements to be made with the US.

The office of Enrile said the Senate President had always begged off from joining presidential foreign trips since the time of former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada. –With Aurea Calica