I’ve seen how our past governments worked very hard to establish a very good relationship with their foreign counterparts. From the time of President Marcos, Pres. Cory Aquino, FVR, President Estrada, GMA, and Pnoy, they all valued and continued our cordial, if not friendly relations founded on mutual respect.
From FVR’s time to Pnoy’s term, I had the rare opportunity of being right there and seeing for myself how our diplomats valued and regarded our country’s international standing. They worked so hard to make sure we Filipinos earned respect from peoples of all nations. Diplomacy is the key. We were always reminded by the Department of Foreign Affairs before the presidential delegation visit to countries to be respectful of the host country’s traditions and culture. Respect is a must.
Our number one ambassador or diplomat is of course the head of state, the President. During the time of President Fidel Ramos, he liked to say to his foreign audience that he is the number one salesman of our country. Tutoo yon. He worked tirelessly and with enthusiasm to help promote our country abroad. During his term, we Filipinos felt a new sense of pride of being a Filipino. Taas noo.
Other countries responded well to FVR’s diplomacy by opening their minds into investing in the Philippines and / or visiting as tourists. Other governments sent their help and assistance to us in times of natural disasters. We received aid from our foreign neighbors. Gratitude is good.
Countries are no longer exclusive. The world has become one whole country.
We Filipinos cannot imprison ourselves because of differences in how we see things from other nations. There is only one way to see things.
We have to embrace other nations. We cannot isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Humility is a must.
Wanting to build new partnerships doesn’t mean we have to destroy relationships with our old allies. Our friendships with other nations were a product of decades of mutual cooperation and trust. Let us not throw it all away for whatever reason. We don’t have to create new enemies to gain new friends.
Our words and actions affect not only one organization. We carry with us the whole nation. There are causes and effects and it would be the height of insensitivity if we will not consider the negative effects to our economy of our intense indifference.
A devil-may-care attitude will not bring prosperity to our nation. We ordinary citizens have mouths to feed, debts to pay, jobs to keep, businesses to run. We want continuity of progress, permanent stability and sincere objectivity of government policies. Regardless of who the people are in charge, there must be a common bible that we all adhere to. We cannot have a new bible every time we have a new government. It could delay or even hamper our growth.
We not only speak for ourselves but we represent our country and its people. We see the value and wisdom of maintaining a very good professional relationship with citizens of all nations based on mutual respect.
Let’s continue to be kind to one another.
Let’s continue to be respectful of others.
-omb
I wholeheartedly agree with this, Ms. Annie. We need to be gracious inspite of the circumstances. I truly wonder sometimes how being aggressive, for lack of a better term, has become the norm. My mother always said, if you have nothing nice to say, just dont say anything. I wish we filipinos would go back to being respectful, gracious people. No man is an island, no country can survive alone. We can not isolate ourselves. God bless the Philippines…