Too much propaganda over a trip
| FRONTLINE |
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| Ninez Cacho-Olivares |
It’s not quite that lean a delegation Noynoy Aquino has brought with him to Vietnam, because 53 or so people accompanying him on a short trip isn’t lean.
But it really makes one wonder why there is that need for Philippine presidents to have a sizable number of officials, their assistants and God knows who else traveling with them.
Then too, it is puzzling why Philippine presidents — Noynoy included — have to make every trip sound so important, and more important, they make their presence in the visits such an important event, wrapping up the propaganda spiel with the memorandums of agreement that more often than not, have already been forged prior to the visits.
Presidents and prime ministers of different First World countries don’t need to justify their visits in dollars and cents or even the importance of their presence in such meetings. They don’t come home to tell the nation what a successful visit they had, and just how much of the bacon they brought home.
But not in this country. Philippine presidents have that penchant to keep on justifying their trips abroad, perhaps because these trips are not that important, and that they then have to justify the trip and the expenses entailed.
As Noynoy put it, “It is very important that we develop our relations to our neighboring countries especially with our fellow members in the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) because all of the problems we have facing today really have worldwide global significance.”.... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101027com2.html
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