GMA coming to DC?

WASHINGTON D.C. – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is facing threats of a coup in Manila because of the “Hello Garci” tapes and other scandals, is scheduled to speak at a luncheon at the National Press Club here Feb. 21.
The weekly NPC “Record” newsletter said the President will speak at lunch on Feb. 21. Ordinarily, heads of state and other top officials of a foreign country are invited by the NPC to address it in the course of an official visit to Washington. In the case of Mrs. Arroyo, she has, as far as is known, not been invited by the NPC or by any US official to visit Washington. Sources said arrangement for her speech at the press club was made by a media consulting firm here.
Now that the NPC has officially announced her speech, Philippine embassy officials are said to be scrambling to arrange meetings with any US official or officials to justify her junket to Washington.
The planned visit by the President has been confirmed by US sources and that Manila’s request for meetings with US officials is under consideration. But they have expressed doubt such a meeting, which usually takes a year to materialize, would not be possible at such a short time.
If this is not possible, sources said, embassy officials might seek other ways to give the President a full schedule during her Feb. 20-23 stay here. She is scheduled to arrive Feb. 20 and leave Feb. 23, sources said.
American and Filipino journalists here said it would be ridiculous for President Arroyo to visit Washington D.C. just to address the press club. The sources added she has to meet some very important people to justify her trip to the Filipino people at a time when she is facing demands for her resignation or even threats of a coup against her government.
Sources said Mrs. Arroyo might be making the trip in a desperate move to call the attention of US leaders to the problems she is facing in the Philippines where her popularity has plummeted and demands for her resignation are growing due to the alleged rigging of the 2004 presidential election, the jueteng scandal by her family, corruption and human rights violations.
Mrs. Arroyo made an official visit to Washington D.C. in May 2003. She was well received by President George W. Bush because she was among the first foreign leader to pledge support of the war in Iraq. But her relation with the President was strained when she withdrew the small Philippine contingent from Iraq when rebels threatened to execute a Filipino driver.
American officials are said to be reluctant to give her a semblance of support due to the continuing political turmoil in the Philippines. US embassy intelligence reports that were recently published in Manila were generally unfavorable to her and her administration.
The crisis erupted last June when she admitted talking to a commissioner of the Commission on Elections to ensure that  she gets a plurality of more than one million votes in the 2004 presidential election. This, coupled with the jueteng scandal allegedly involving members of her family and Senate probes about corruption in government led to demonstrations calling for her resignation.
A move to impeach her was quelled by her loyal followers in the House.
But past and recent surveys show that her popularity had plunged to minus 15 percent and that the majority of the people want her to resign and cut short her term which is supposed to last up to 2010.
Sources said the aim of Mrs. Arroyo is to refurbish her image in the United States and probably obtain support for her embattled presidency.
In Manila, meanwhile, Malacanang is seeking the help of PR (public relations) practitioners to give Filipinos a respite from negative stories in the media that have made it difficult for the country to take off.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said it is a shame that a nation of gifted and hardworking people cannot get its act together because of endless bickering, mudslinging and politicking. “Unless we all put our differences aside, and work hand in hand, no matter where our political sympathies lie, our country will continue to be like an aircraft in a holding pattern - merely circling and not touching down,” Bunye told the Third Philippine Public Relations Congress at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.
Bunye said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has suffered tremendously in terms of unfavorable coverage and commentary. As long as the atmosphere remains politically charged, he said there will surely be “no respite from the many PR challenges that we face.” He bewailed that Filipinos are bombarded, day-in and day-out, with so much negative news about their country as if there is a dearth of good news to share.
Oftentimes, he said, serious allegations are leveled against the government even without basis. Worse, he said even if these allegations are obviously the concoctions of persons motivated only by self-interest, “our chismis-driven culture unfortunately laps it up as gospel truth.” “It is in this light that I wish to enlist your help. I ask for your help, not because I speak for the President, but because it is time for us all to do what we can, in our respective spheres of influence, do for the country we love and must build together,” Bunye said.
 The Palace spokesman said it is the patriotic duty of the citizens to support and assist the President, instead of wishing her downfall. Citing the observation of progressive Asian neighbors that the Philippines has not moved very far despite its natural resources and talented people, Bunye said this is because the country is bogged down by pettiness, partisan politics, parochialism, regionalism and plain old selfishness.