RIYADH, 6 July 2005 — A manifesto that was presented to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo in Riyadh on Saturday night, which said it forgave President Gloria Arroyo’s interference in last year’s election in the Philippines, has caused an outrage among other community leaders in the Saudi capital and abroad.

Representatives of various organizations who were also present at a dinner meeting with Romulo at the Philippine Chancery demanded that the people behind the document be made to explain what the manifesto was all about because Manila was using it to show that Arroyo has the support of overseas Filipinos.

“I was not aware of any manifesto of support to GMA (Arroyo’s initials) or position paper being discussed or passed before, during, and after our meeting with DFA Secretary Romulo at the Philippine Embassy,” said Vic Barrazona of V-Team, a group helping Filipinos in the Kingdom who are in distress.

A press statement by the DFA on Sunday said the manifesto had the signatures of 34 community leaders and it was handed to Romulo by leader Alex Veloso Bello, current chairman of the OFW Congress. Bello was not immediately available for comment on demands for his explanation.

Romulo was in Riyadh on Saturday and Sunday with Undersecretaries Rafael Seguis and Jose Brillantes to meet with Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Abdullah.

According to the DFA press release, the “joint manifesto” welcomed Arroyo’s admission that she talked with a Commission on Election (Comelec) official when the votes were being counted and that her apology should put the matter to rest.

In a press briefing in Manila yesterday, Romulo said he actually received five manifestos of support from five groups in Saudi Arabia, all sharing the view that Arroyo was “only human facing superhuman challenges.”

Apart from the OFW-Congress, the other groups were the United OFWs, Council of Unified Muslim Community Leaders in Riyadh, and the Federation of Maranao Associations in Saudi, and the Alliance of Overseas Muslim Professionals.

Arroyo is facing calls for her resignation after she admitted to a “lapse in judgment” when she spoke with an election official during the canvassing for the May 2004 election. She denied, however, that she attempted to rig the election, as has been asserted by the opposition on the basis of alleged recordings of the conversation, which have been widely circulated.

Other community leaders who were present during the dinner meeting in Riyadh wondered why Bello “did not read the manifesto during the program proper to make it known to all the attendees.”

Noel Garan of Akbayan suspected that the manifesto was a “pre-fabricated” statement made and issued without consulting the majority of OFWs.

“We respect the opinion of each one but this type of raw pronouncements is like a slap on the face of the majority of OFWs,” he said in Filipino in an e-mail message.

Ray Garcia, a new member of the V-Team, a task force of OFWs helping distressed Filipinos, said an explanation by Bello is necessary to clarify any doubt that some hanky-panky had happened.

Rashid Fabricante, head of the Pusong Mamon Task Force, suspected that some DFA officials may have solicited the manifestos of support “to earn pogi (brownie) points” from the president.

Fabricante demanded that the names of the signatories be publicized “in order to create an even level of playing field that what they carry and represent in terms of principles, views and opinions is not contrary to what they profess to their members and the public they vowed to serve.”

Jay Ebora of FedEx called on Bello “to answer all those unanswered questions.”

“Sir, we are with you. Our vision too is for us OFWs to be united. All these requests Ka Alex is for you to come out from the box, not to sow hatred and divisiveness among our kababayan,” he said, adding that he only wanted to know the truth.

OFWs from other parts of the Kingdom also expressed concern over the dispute.

Ronnie Abeto, a co-convenor of Bello at the International Coalition of Overseas Filipinos Voting Rights (Icofvr), said that advocacy groups like eLagda-Riyadh, Pusong Mamon Task Force (PMTF), Icofvr, OFW IT Convenors Group, Eto na Kami! Ahon Kabayan, Namfrel-Riyadh, Grafowa, Masa.com, Akbayan-KSA & Binangonan Group-KSA and a network of coordinators and advocacy partners Kingdomwide, “were not even part of this manifesto and were not even aware that there is a manifesto to be issued by the Filipino Community Groups.”

“I hope that this is not a political gimmick of traditional politicians and that out respected colleagues have not allowed themselves to be used for that purpose,” Abeto cautioned.

Amid the exchange of e-mails over the manifesto, the past president of OFW Congress called for sobriety even as he urged Bello to issue an explanation.

“We need to be united now more than ever. Let’s give our colleague Alex Bello two weeks to think about it and eventually issue an official report,” Isagani Manalo said.