JEDDAH, 8 July 2005 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has gotten another much-needed morale booster with one of the oldest federation of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia “reaffirming loyalty and full support” for her administration.
In a press release, the Kasapi Congress called for sobriety among OFWs, urging each one to tell family members who are in the Philippines to refrain from joining “any protest or extra-constitutional ways of wanting to tear down the present government...”
The group headed by Rudy Dianalan, Vic Aguila and Gil Manese had prepared a manifesto or resolution saying OFWs ought to continue supporting Arroyo to “preserv(e) the gains” of her administration, according to the statement.
“If things will continue to deteriorate and the (Philippine) currency goes down the drain, all OFWs efforts and sacrifices will be in vain,” it said.
Arab News was unable to get a copy of the manifesto, which the statement said was approved and signed by leaders of Kasapi’s member groups in a meeting held recently at La Parilla Restaurant in Jeddah.
The organizations that manifested their support to Arroyo, according to the statement, were the Malaig Association for Islamic & Social Advancement (Maisa), Filipino Basketball Association (FBA), Bulacan Migrant Workers Association (BMWA), All Filipino Tennis Players Association (AFTPA).
Jeddah Association of Filipino Engineers & Architects (Jafea), Association of Filipino Civil Engineers (AFCE), Shakba International, Association of Ranao Engineers & Architects (AREA), Pangasinan Saudi Workers Association (PSWA), Businessmen Organization in Jeddah (BOJ), Tiaong Quezon Overseas Workers Association (TQOWA), Association of Cabalen Expatriates (ACE), Cargo Forwarders Association (CFA), United Maguindanao Expatriates Association (UMEA), Batangas Group of Jeddah, United Cavitenos, Filipino Basketball Association-Jeddah Officiating Group, Bileg Ilocano ti Saudi Arabia (BISA), Boholano Community in Jeddah (BCJ).
Filipino Women Overseas Workers (Filwow), Malumbay International, Order of the Knights of Rizal in Western Region, ABNA Marantao, Balo-I-, Ewaton, Mindanao Federation Basketball Association, Landasul-Lanao, Davao & Sulo and Basilan Overseas Muslim Workers Association (Bomwa).
The Kasapi statement said it was pointed out during the meeting that:
• Filipinos, particularly the leaders of the political opposition, should avoid too much petty politics and preserve the gains of the present regime and move on to fight poverty, crimes and graft and corruption in all levels of our society.
• Arroyo should be given a chance to continue and finish her term for the good of all Filipinos, including OFWs.
• At this point in time, the Philippines can not afford another people power revolution, much more a coup d’ etat or a snap election.
• If there appears to be a wrongdoing on the part of the government, let it be investigated and resolved within the bounds of the law and the Philippine Constitution.
The Kasapi resolution comes in the heels of a controversy over a manifesto in support of Arroyo, which the chair of the OFW Congress in Riyadh presented to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo last weekend.
A news release issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said at least 38 community leaders signed the manifesto that OFW Congress Chairman Alex Veloso Bello personally handed over to Romulo.
Leaders of various group, particularly those active in the advocacy of the rights and welfare of OFWs and in the protection of distressed Filipinos, have denounced the manifesto as an underhanded tactic by those involved to mislead the public into believing that Arroyo has a wide support among overseas Filipinos.
“While we are all entitled to express our own opinion, let us not try to speak on behalf of everyone without a modicum of consultation. We were not even made aware of that manifesto,” Rashid Fabricante, head of the Pusong Mamon Task Force (PMTF) said earlier in a phone interview with Arab News.
Ronnie Abeto, a Yanbu-based member of the OFW assistance group called V-Team, said they have asked Bello to clarify what happened but they have not received any explanation.
Fabricante, Abeto and others have said they were particularly disturbed by themanifesto’s stand on Arroyo’s admission that she had interfered in the counting of last year’s presidential election, in which she was declared to have won by more than a million votes over opposition candidate Fernando Poe Jr.
Wiretapped tapes of Arroyo’s alleged conversation with poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano showed her talking about the canvassing of votes.
While apologizing for a “lapse in judgment” by talking with the poll official, Arroyo denied doing anything wrong saying she was only concerned about protecting her million-vote lead, and lamented endemic corruption.
The OFW Congress’ manifesto said it was enough that the president had apologized.
Apart from the OFW Congress, four other groups presented letters of support for Arroyo to Romulo, who later announced in Manila that the president has wide support among overseas Filipinos.
It could not be ascertained if the Kasapi manifesto has reached Arroyo, who said yesterday she was not resigning despite mounting clamor for her to step down to allow for a constitutional succession.
Even Alex Magno, a political science lecturer at the University of the Philippines, an adviser and rabid defender of Arroyo, is now questioning whether the president was only trying “to delay the inevitable.”
“My sense is that this political gamble will not work because we have reached the tipping point,” Magno said.
