US Ambassador Philip Goldberg graciously hosted an afternoon tea yesterday at his residence for a select group in preparation for our visit to the US this month.
Around twenty of us (including Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Secretary Greg Domingo) are traveling to Washington DC to raise the profile of the Philippines. Simply put, we are going there for public relations- to help promote our country in general.
We decided to skip the Europe and NY leg with President Aquino and just proceed to Washington, DC. Kung hindi lang nasa Europe ako kamakailan lang, siguro sumama rin ako sa Berlin, etc. The schedules are alanganin. Nasingit itong DC, We are scheduled to go to the US in October. Baka patong-patong ang jet lag ko.
There are currently 350,000 Americans living in the Philippines and millions of Filipinos are in the US. There’s an interwoven relationship that has taken place overtime between us.
Call time was 2 pm. For fear of being late, I left my office at 1:15 pm. Lumampas pa kami sa gate but since I gave a big allowance, I still arrived first. By 1:40 pm, I was already outside the ambassador’s gate.
Nothing could go through this fortress.
Me first.
We were led to a huge living area with a wall-sized Chinese wooden screen. This unusual oil painting added some quirkiness to the formal and elegant room.
If you’re an artist, the best place to have your art displayed is at the house of ambassadors. They always host parties for dignitaries which could be the next collectors and customers.
I got the first shot at cookies. Pero nahiya ako, I didn’t get any.
Most of my colleagues were late. The Ambassador appeared at 2:10 pm. I like Americans, they are very prompt.
There were two Filipinos who flooded us with juices, coffee, water and pica-pica.
The ambassador reminded us in the middle of our conversation to get some more cookies.
I chose to seat on a chair instead of on the long sofa beside Ambassador Goldberg. It’s mid-day and I would feel very sleepy on a comfortable sofa. I might doze off, mahilig pa ako sa balikat (shoulder) ni ambassador, that would be embarrassing. I saw Babe Romualdez fighting off his sleepiness.
Clockwise: Jeffrey Ng, Philip Romualdez, Ambassador Goldberg, Tony Lopa, DTI Usec. Chito Manalo, Susing Pineda, Raymond Garcia, Annie C. Tan-Yee, Althea Antonio (Chief of Staff- Office of Usec. Manalo)
I asked Ambassador Goldberg about the continuous encroachment of the Chinese. They are building more military installations in the contested islands. With China’s economic power come their military prowess which they are using to bully a helpless country like us. He said the Philippines are doing the right thing by taking the legal and peaceful route to the resolution of the sea issues. Their defense appropriations are more focused on how the US can help us in humanitarian area.
I posed a second comment, that the Chinese continue to do that because they know we cannot do anything about their intrusions. We are not capable of defending ourselves.
There is a wide recognition that there is progress and dynamism happening in our country. One is the anti-corruption measures that the Aquino administration is pursuing and willing to take on.
He gave us some tips on what maybe asked during our meetings in DC. One is if the economic reforms would continue and be sustained by the Aquino government and the government after that.
Our group is going out of our way and spending our own time and resources to help promote our country. We will extoll the virtues of the Filipinos. People from the outside can easily see the positive changes in our country from a macro level. Rather, the people from the inside, including me, have a more difficult appreciation of what’s happening around us. Because we see things up close (micro level). We see and experience the chaos, the inefficient road management, lack of infrastructure, crime, poverty, and overall order.
Kaya kayo, please, huwag maka dagdag sa kaguluhan sa Pilipinas, tumulong kahit sa maliit na paraan. Pagbutihin ang mga trabaho, maliit man o malaki. We are all in here, let’s do our humble share in keeping our country in order. HUWAG GUMAWA NG KASAMAAN. Igalang ang isa’t isa.
Arthur Lopez, Jeffrey Ng, Philip Romualdez, Babe Romualdez, Prof. Dindo Manhit, Ambassador Goldberg, Antonio Lopa, Usec. Chito Manalo,
Jesus Pineda, Raymond Garcia, OMB, and Nono Ibazeta.
China and Russia are allies. Since the US is pivoting/encircling the two, these superpowers are doing everything to defend their territories and interests. US bases and infrastructures are everywhere surrounding the two large countries, what are they supposed to do?
The US establishes interests in some countries to balance the power. They don’t invade, they pay rent and enter into written agreements with the host countries.