PNoy has expressed his admonition over the United States’ failure to alert and inform him about supposed terror threats in the Philippines—the US government’s justification for travel warnings issued to its citizens who are planning to visit the country.
However, when it came to the Visiting Forces Agreement, concerns aired by the US government were loud and clear.
“I understand that there were several communications between our government and the US government and the main topic on the agenda had to deal with the VFA, the review process itself… reviewing the VFA to be more precise, rather than any terrorist alerts,” Pres. Aquino said.
“So one has to wonder in these opportunities why they did not share intelligence that they are supposed to have possessed with their ally. So it’s like in those meetings they didn’t make a point of highlighting any potential terrorists in the country. Mostly, if not entirely, it was all about the VFA,” he added.
PNoy thinks that it is time to review the VFA and see if it meets all of the objectives of both the Philippine and US governments.
He also assumes that the upcoming visit of former US President Bill Clinton to the Philippines is “a vote of confidence” and that the Philippines has been doing its part in fine tuning the processes for the country’s safety and security.
“If we have not been able to prevent all, we have managed to effect arrests and file cases on so many instances,” he said, citing the Bar exams explosion in Manila, the bus bombing in Cotabato, and even carjackings.
“Even in the first six cases of extralegal killings or suspected extralegal killings, the secretary of justice has informed me that we have filed cases on not less than five or six already, and of course we have to go through the process, but we are highly confident that we will be securing convictions,” PNoy emphasized.
He asserted that foreign governments “should coordinate and analyze intelligence information with the Philippines first before making any advisories,” he added.
“The problem there is that, in their side of caution, we are the ones put at a disadvantage,” he further stated.
It would be good to note that US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. himself said that he feels safe traveling in the Philippines and even advised former US President Bill Clinton that “the Philippines is a wonderful place to visit.”
However, he also emphasized that there is a need for the US government and its allies “to be serious about safety and security.”
Being an ally of the United States for decades, it is only normal for PNoy and the Philippine government to feel slighted by this rather unsavory treatment.
It is given that terrorist threats should be taken seriously, but it is also only fair to be transparent in disseminating information—especially when such travel advisories endanger a country’s reputation and become detrimental to its progress and prosperity.
Hopefully, this glitch between US and RP relations is only short-lived and will be resolved in an amicable manner.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Published Nov. 10, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles P. A6)
