Snubs show OBAMA is no RP friend

Analysis
By Amando DoronilaPhilippine Daily Inquirer

In the first blush of victory, US President-elect Barack Obama accepted congratulations from nine presidents and prime ministers and returned their calls. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, one of the numerous early callers, was not one of the chosen few.

The favored world leaders were Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

All are leaders of democracies known as important allies of the United States. Two are Asians—Aso and Lee; one is leader of the centerpiece of US policy in the Middle East, Olmert of Israel; Calderon heads Mexico, the most strategic US neighbor in Latin America; and the rest are leaders of Europe’s most important democracies.

Their talks ranged over a number of issues indicating the priorities of Obama as he moved swiftly to revamp the focus of US foreign policy, including the global financial crisis, the Afghanistan war, and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crisis.

Sarkozy’s office said he and Obama spoke for 30 minutes, characterized as “extremely warm,” as they discussed the financial crisis and agreed to meet in the “quite near future.” It said they spoke about an international financial summit in Washington.

A second round of calls to world leaders quickly followed on Saturday when Obama spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

After this second round, Ms Arroyo was pushed back on the queue of the waiting list. Malacañang has been waiting in vain for a return call. None, at the time of this writing, had been received.

Not on radar screen

These telephone chats over the past few days gave a first glimpse into the “world view” of the incoming administration—the countries that mattered to it, the countries Obama have downgraded and the issues that concern it most as he redefines US foreign policy in the post-Bush era.

From the looks of it, the Philippines is not on the Obama radar screen, no matter how our humiliated leaders on the waiting list claim our strategic importance is to the United Sates in the Asia-Pacific region and our historic ties with Washington.

Obama has barely a couple of years experience as junior senator from Illinois and has only a brushing acquaintance with foreign policy. It’s very likely the Philippines struck him as just a speck on the map.

And so, if his team received an early call from Ms Arroyo congratulating him for his election, one of his ignorant staff could have asked: “Where is the Philippines?”

American presidents take seriously countries whose leaders create trouble for the United States and who assail its authority as the lone superpower after the collapse of communism in the 1990s. They scorn obsequious vassal poor countries although they may have historical special relations with the United States.

Take Sarkozy. Amid the financial crisis of Wall Street in October, Sarkozy seized the Wall Street turmoil as an opening wedge to revamp the free-enterprise US model along the lines of the state-interventionist style of France. This has been seen in Washington as a revival of neo-Gaullism in France challenging the American model of capitalism.

The Canadian prime minister’s office said Obama and Harper emphasized there could be no closer friends and allies than the United States and Canada and vowed to strengthen their relationship.

President Calderon’s office said Obama pledged continued US support for Mexico’s fight against organized crime and drug trafficking. The office of Olmert said he and Obama “discussed the need to continue and advance the peace process, while maintaining Israel’s security.” Australian Prime Minister Rudd said he and Obama talked about national security and climate change.

Constructive interaction

In his conversation with Lee, Obama said the US-South Korean alliance was a “cornerstone” of Asia’s peace and stability and promised improved relations between the two countries.

In the second round of telephone talks, Obama and Russian President Medvedev “expressed the determination to create constructive interaction for the good of global stability,” and agreed their countries had common responsibility to address “serious problems of global nature.”

On Wednesday, after Obama’s election, Medvedev threatened to move short-range missiles on Russia’s borders with NATO allies, including Poland and the Czech Republic.

Obama’s talk with China’s Hu covered a range of issues, including the global financial turmoil and the sensitive issue of Taiwan. China opposes independence for Taiwan, saying that the proper handling of the issue was the key to good relations between Beijing and Washington.

‘Fairer’ Middle East policy

In his first foreign policy pronouncement as president-elect, Obama called for an international effort to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The pronouncement came a day after Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Obama to implement a “fairer” policy in the Middle East.

Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama on his election—the first time an Iranian leader had offered such wishes to a US president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Obama acknowledged the letter, but said Iran’s development of nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and Iran must end its “support of terrorist organizations.”

By contrast, the Philippines encountered a frosty reception from the incoming administration. Ms Arroyo put in a call to Obama at 2-3 a.m. to congratulate him, and Obama did not receive her call.

Instead, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney offered an explanation that failed to mask the snub. In Bacolod City, Kenney said Obama was “a fan of the Philippines,” and she expected the two countries to have “extraordinarily good relations” during the Obama presidency.

Kenney said she did not foresee any major changes in the security relations with the Philippines, where US Special Forces are training Filipino troops in fighting Moro rebels linked to Osama bin Laden’s terror network in Southeast Asia.

RP not in charmed circle

Kenney said the Philippines would continue to be a “strong ally” of the United States, and acknowledged that the Philippines increasingly had a “great regional role to play.”

She said that when Ms Arroyo put in a call to Obama, his team told her that the President’s call was one of “the first and most gracious calls,” and they were taking down names and numbers and they would “call back when they get a chance.”

They never did.

Kenney said it was not likely that Ms Arroyo would be able to meet Obama when she goes to the United States next week to attend a UN function.

“I think [an Obama-Arroyo] meeting is unlikely because the president-elect, as I understand it, is not yet meeting with foreign leaders. He is busy assembling his Cabinet,” the US ambassador said.

The sidelining of the Arroyo call gave a glimpse of the importance of the Philippines to the United States at a moment of change of administration.

It is clear that the Philippines stands on the outer perimeter of US concerns in world affairs.
The first telephone conversations reveal the Philippines is not within the charmed circles of the Obama administration. It is a leper outside looking in.

It is imperative that Manila should rearrange its priorities vis-à-vis Washington. Obama is not our friend.

This is definitely what other country leaders think of our country, its president, and our people if we do not have a strong political will and determination to become independent. We continue to kow-tow foreign "friends and allies" since we cannot stand in our own two feet! It's time to kill corruption and make our economic findamentals strong. Let's produce our own, take care of our own, and develop our industries and stop this cycle of misery and embarrassment. Nakakahiya na tayo na para bang maamong aso na sunod ng sunod sa puwet ng kanyang amo.

If our country is strong, other countries will respect us. Just take a look at China. During the 50's this country is so poor but after winning its war against the Nationalists (driven to Taiwan), it struggled on its own to survive. Theirs was a rough life for many years. Look at them now. They've just brought two people in space becoming the third nation after Russia and the US. They developed their own industries and have even catered to many multinationals even to date.

We should do the same. Now! So in 20-30 years, those new generations of Filipinos will not be kissing the asses of other nations begging for everything! Nakakahiya at nakaka-awa na tayo! Let's start killing corruption and putting corrupt officials to jail and start giving new faces to ourselves and be respected by foreign countries). GISING NA, BAYAN!