“Ill timed.”
This was how Davao City councilor Angela Librado-Trinidad described the Philippines’ hosting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)’s Interfaith Dialogue on December 1 to 3. Many Pinoys don’t know it, but our government is indeed in the thick of preparations for what is described as the biggest assembly to be held in our country this year — one for which it will spend hundreds of millions of pesos.
The gathering itself has a noble purpose, that of pushing interfaith cooperation among the members, focusing on peace and development. But as councilor Librado says, now may not be the best time for the Philippines to host it.
NAM is an international organization that aims to ensure “national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics.” It is composed of 118 member-states, and to host them in one place would cost a huge bundle.
How huge? Well, according to Administrative Order No. 238 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a budget of P200 million is to be set aside for the dialogue, to be sourced from the International Commitments Fund (ICF).
And that’s where Librado’s comment comes in. Tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng have wreaked havoc on Metro Manila and its environs as well as Northern Luzon, and in the aftermath of these two weather disturbances the government had called on the international community to send help — in cash and in kind. The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) has placed from Ondoy at P8.33 billion as of October 5 and damage from Pepeng at P1.96 billion as of October 9, and government simply cannot foot that bill (not with all the stealing from the nation’s coffers going on). Defense Secretary and NDCC chair Gilbert Teodoro, speaking on behalf of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, actually requested the international humanitarian community for assistance.
And yet government is still pushing through with the NAM Interfaith Dialogue, and a source recently told me that the budget has even been raised from P200 million to P400 million. I asked councilor Librado for her thoughts on the matter, and this is what she said: “Sponsoring an event which has a huge logistical requirement in the light of the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in luzon and Mindanao is simply ill-timed, especially since the national government did not spend much on rescue and rehabilitation as the bulk of the assistance comes from NGOs, civic groups, or simply from outside sources.”
Well said. The purpose of the gathering may be worthy, but Ondoy and Pepeng force us to question the propriety of the Philippines hosting it. Perhaps government feels that it will lose face if it backs out of hosting the Interfaith Dialogue, but there is really no more face to save: it has already shamed itself when it botched the rescue efforts for victims of the twin disasters and when it literally begged the world to come help it handle the crises.
Besides, we must trust that the international community would understand the country’s predicament; indeed, it may very well question our government’s priorities and perhaps even cause donors to withhold aid, thinking that our country is not so financially helpless after all.
Librado also made two points on the NAM itself, particularly of the Philippines’ being a member of it: “I question the sincerity of the government in sponsoring this event,” she said, “considering that historically and truthfully it has never been a neutral/non-alligned country. The latest proof is the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) and other declarations which show the government’s bias (including its position on Iraq, etc.).”
Lastly, she said, if government is bent on showing the world that it is for genuine peace and it is part of the NAM, “it must immediately: 1) resume talks with MILF and other revolutionary groups; 2) stop militarization in the countryside that further aggravate the sufferings of typhoon-stricken communities in Luzon and Mindanao; and 3) abrogate international agreements that jeopardize principles of the NAM.”
Random Posts:
[...] GRP Postpones Interfaith Dialogue of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) posted this in its website, apparently in response to calls for it to postpone the Interfaith Dialogue of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) that had been scheduled this December. I blogged about it here. [...]