ManilaMailDC.Net - GMA not bothered by tainted image

GMA not bothered by tainted image

UNITED NATIONS – Despite her tainted image caused by the Hello Garci tapes and alleged jueteng corruption and human rights violations, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will make history by presiding over the meeting of the powerful United Nations security council It’s the Philippines’ turn starting to preside over the council meeting, the second time in its two-year term as an elected member.
Mrs. Arroyo, who is now called by the opposition as ‘Hello Garci’ after she admitted talking to a Comelec official during and after the election in 2004, was to leave Manila Sept. 11 by commercial airline, arriving in New York Sept. 13 in time to attend the Asean-UN summit and the meeting of leaders of the interreligious and intercultural agenda.

President Arroyo presides at a Cabinet meeting a few days before she left for New York to attend the UN meeting.

On the eve of her departure from Manila, Mrs. Arroyo said: “Gusto kong pumunta sa United Nations baon ang maliwanag na mensahe na ang Pilipinas ay iisa at nagkakaisa. At meron tayong matatag na tahanan kaya karapat-dapat tayo sa paggalang ng buong mundo," she said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Arroyo is not likely to be embarrassed by the planned rallies of militant groups and overseas Filipino workers that would hound her in New York. “We don’t really have to contend with them. They have to contend with the police authorities in New York City," he said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the President may use the UN stage to send a reconciliation message to her political foes or answer possible questions about the recent vote in Congress that dismissed impeachment charges against her “if the need arises.”
Romulo, who is ready to answer queries from his counterparts and world leaders who might ask about the impeachment process in the House, said Mrs. Arroyo?s emphasis would still be on reconciliation.
“If the need arises and she wants,” he said. “Reconciliation is one of (the points) in her 10-point agenda."
On Sept. 14, Mrs. Arroyo will preside over the UN security council summit and then attend the interactive roundtables.
On September 15 the President will be at the high-level world summit, at which the heads of state will review the progress of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
Meanwhile, the Anti- Arroyo forces have issued a call for a massive teach-in and picket at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza here starting upon the arrival of the President in New York Sept. 13.
The groups gearing for the demonstrations include the Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign, the ‘Gotta-Go-Glo" tour, Bayan USA,the Filipino youth organization ANAKBAYAN, New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Philippine Forum, the International Action Center, and the New York Chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
The groups’ website said “a number of Anti-Arroyo groups in New York are gearing up with coordinated protest actions climaxing to two back to back mobilizations on September 15-16, the days of Gloria’s visit to the 2005 United Nations World Summit in Manhattan."
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sonia Brady said the attending 170 leaders will be divided into four groups, with the Philippines joining Southeast Asian and Asian countries.
In between these meetings, Brady said the President will meet with the Filipino community, investors and chief executive officers of big companies like Philip Morris, Convergys and Dell. She will also attend discussions with the leaders of the Nonaligned Movement.
The President will have bilateral talks with the heads of China and Malaysia.
Brady said the President will also chair the interfaith dialogue, which will discuss “approaches” to the problem of global terrorism.
The schedule of the President, Brady said, was so tight that a meeting with the President’s husband, Mike Arroyo, who is on exile in the US was not even squeezed in her itinerary.
The President is expected to return on September 17. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Vice President Noli de Castro will be designated caretaker President.
Ermita appealed to the opposition for a moratorium while the President is in New York so as not to put her in a bad light.
“The Philippines is fortunate to have this opportunity to preside twice over the Security Council during its two-year membership and during the busiest and most important period in the organization’s work calendar," Ambassador Lauro L. Baja Jr., the country’s permanent representative to the UN, said.
Baja said the Philippines will assume the presidency at a time when the 191 member-countries are discussing reforms in the organization and with more than 170 heads of states and governments, including President Arroyo, confirming their attendance in the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly next month.
Baja said Mrs. Arroyo will preside over the assembly to discuss threats to international peace and security.
‘President Arroyo will be the first president of the Philippines to preside over a summit meeting of the Security Council and the first woman head of state do so," Baja said.
He added that the President will also have the distinction of being the first Asian leader to chair a Security Council summit.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo is also scheduled to preside over a thematic debate in the Security Council on “The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Prevention and the Pacific Settlement of Dispute.”
The Philippines will take over the presidency from Japan and will oversee the program of work of the Security Council for the entire month of September.
The Philippines was elected in October 2003 to a non¡permanent seat on the Security Council for the term 2004-05 with an overwhelming vote of 179 out of 181 UN members present and voting. It will vacate its elected seat on December 31, 2005.
This is the fourth time the Philippines is serving as an elected member of the Security Council. A charter member of the UN, the Philippines was an active nonpermanent member of the Security Council in 1957-58, 1963-64 and 1980-81.