GMA to Bush: Still partners in war on terror

By MIA GONZALES and RENE ACOSTA
TODAY Reporters


President Arroyo on Thursday congratulated President Bush for winning a fresh term and stressed that the Philippines and the United States, whose ties were strained by her decision to withdraw troops from Iraq to save a Filipino worker’s life, “must remain strong partners in the war against terror.”


In a congratulatory statement conveyed through US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, the President said Bush’s “reelection comes at an important juncture when American leadership and international solidarity must be put at the service of securing greater global peace, security and prosperity.”


“Towards this end, the Philippines and the United States must remain strong partners in the global war on terror and steadfast allies in protecting freedom.


“The bonds between our nations are both resilient and dynamic and we have made significant headway in securing our peoples from the grave menace of terrorism,” she said.


She expects the “historic” bond that link the two countries to further “deepen” in the coming years.”


“In this spirit, I look forward to continuing our partnership during your new term. Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration,” she said.


She also congratulated Bush and Sen. John Kerry “for a fight well fought.”


The President had disappointed Washington for deciding to pull out Philippine troops from Iraq a month ahead of schedule in July to meet terrorists’ demands for the release of Filipino truck driver Angelo dela Cruz.


Ricciardone said in a news briefing after his meeting with the President that he believed that Philippine-US relations could only improve under Bush’s new term.


“I [conveyed] to her my faith and confidence and my optimism that with President Bush now reelected, there’s nowhere to go but even further up in our relations,” he said.


Despite such assurance, Ricciardone could not say with certainty whether Bush would have time for a one-on-one meeting with Mrs. Arroyo at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference Leaders’ Summit in Chile later this month.


He said that while the two leaders would certainly meet at the APEC and that a one-on-one meeting “may happen,” it has yet to be scheduled.


Ricciardone also categorically denied reports that Washington had flatly refused to meet with Mrs. Arroyo.


Relatedly, the vice chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Reforms said on Thursday that the country should take its lesson from the early results of the US elections by modernizing its own electoral system.


Akbayan Party-List Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales said that if there is one thing that could be learned from the US poll experience, it is for the country to conduct its own elections to that level.


“The fact alone that in a few hours the results were known, totally eliminating the long-drawn manual counting which has in our case, delayed the results, reflects the indispensability of an automated process in elections,” she said.


Rosales noted that while it may be true that there were isolated incidents of snafus in the US elections like missing registrants and machines breaking down, no widespread irregularities were reported.


The US example, she said teaches the country on how to conduct its own elections and at the same time, now prods majority of the congressmen to push for the modernization of the electoral system.


Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. of PDP-Laban sees no marked change in Philippine-US relations with the reelection of Bush.


Pimentel said the US is expected to continue giving modest amount of military and economic aid despite the animosity between Bush and Mrs. Arroyo due to the pullout of Philippine peace-keeping contingent from Iraq.

“We do not expect any substantial change in the relations between the Philippines and the United States, But what we can expect is for the US to wage a more vigorous drive against the so-called terrorists in foreign countries, including the Philippines,” he said.


The Muslim-Filipino community led by House Deputy Speaker Gerry Salapuddin also congratulated Bush, whom it urged to exercise principled restraint on when to use diplomacy of force and force of diplomacy in order not to alienate US friends and allies.


“The American people had spoken and we must respect it. As a Muslim Deputy Speaker of the House and on behalf of Muslim Filipinos we are extending our congratulatory message to the victory of President Bush and Vice President d!ck Cheney,” Salapuddin said.