THE much-anticipated historic meeting between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and US President Barack Obama fi nally took place on July 30. Arroyo is the fi rst Southeast Asian leader to visit the White House since Obama was elected as president in November of last year.
The ties between the two countries go a long way back in history. It began during the first half of the 20th century, when the Philippines became a US colony. After the Philippines became an independent republic, the US managed to keep a strong military presence in its shores until 1992. With the Visiting Forces Agreement and Balikatan exercises still ongoing under Pres. Arroyo’s administration, the ties have remained sacred, especially since the United States is the Philippines’ largest source of military aid and the only country with which it has a defense treaty. The Philippines has remained as one of the closest allies of the United States in Asia.
“The relationship between the United States and the Philippines dates back many years. It is a friendship that is forged not only in treaties and trade relationships and military relationships, but it is also strengthened by very personal ties that exist between our two countries,” Pres. Obama said.
And yet with this ages-old relationship, Pres. Obama fortifies it even further by bestowing a new responsibility upon Pres. Arroyo — the Philippines has been named coordinator of US affairs in ASEAN. Pres. Obama, additionally, delegated the chairing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty conference to the Philippines, an event that will be taking place next year.
President Obama was profuse with praise over Pres. Arroyo’s governanc, especially in tackling vital issues as climate change and terrorism.
In turn, Pres. Arroyo was grateful to the US president and underscored the importance of this new designation.
“It’s something that the US recognized how important we are for them and from what I can see, what you see, President Obama appreciated that role because there are so many things we agree on,” she said.
Arroyo also thanked the United States for their efforts to counter terrorism, “helping to professionalize our military and making it more effective.”
While there has been so much criticism from pundits and Pres. Arroyo’s detractors before the historical meeting, the outcome of the exchange between Pres. Obama and Pres. Arroyo is clearly beneficial for both countries and has forged the Philippine-US relations even stronger. (AJPress)
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( Published on August 1, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A12 )
