“Where’ s the Tito Guingona we used to admire?”
This was asked today by House Assistant Minority Floor Leader Gilbert Remulla as he challenged Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona to question and resist President Arroyo’s unilateral actions on matters under the ambit of the foreign affairs department, particularly on the continuing effort to distort the letter and intent of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Remulla
was making specific reference on the US request to deploy additional troops in
the country, particularly in Basilan and other parts of Mindanao. According to
reports, the request was coursed through Malacañang and not through the
Department of Foreign Affairs.
Remulla said that Guingona is apparently being kept in the dark on matters concerning the Balikatan 02-1 exercises, which is supposedly being handled by the DFA.
He said that it appears that Presidential Spokesman Roberto “Bobi” Tiglao even gets ahead of Guingona when it comes to receiving important information on US affairs in the Philippines.
“ I don’t know how Secretary Guingona feels right now but I really find it very distressing that the Presidential spokesman is even more privy on the plans of the US government with respect to the continuing presence of its troops in the Philippines which is supposed to be his turf,” Remulla said.
Admitting that he used to admire Guingona because of his impeccable record as one of the country’s foremost nationalist and political leader, Remulla said that he is disheartened by Guingona’s failure to stand by his conviction especially on matters directly concerning the country’s national interest.
Remulla cited Guingona’s decision to withdraw his opposition on the deployment of US troops in Basilan despite his position that this is a violation of the Constitution.
And now that the US government announced its plan to deploy additional military personnel in the Philippines, Guingona never raised a howl when he was again bypassed by Malacañang, Remulla added.
The Cavite solon stressed that under normal diplomatic protocol, the US
government should course its communication and requests to the DFA and the
necessary announcement should have come from Guingona or the foreign affairs
spokesman and not from Tiglao.
He reminded Guingona that this incident is a clear violation of an
earlier declaration by President Arroyo that the Foreign Affairs Secretary would
have the full authority to decide on future issues concerning the VFA.
Mrs. Arroyo made this statement in the wake of the controversy on her decision to bypass Guingona when she decided to give the go-signal on the deployment of US troops in Basilan.
“ Secretary Guingona used to be a man of unshakeable principle but now it seems the man that we used to admire has decided to be just an ornament in the Arroyo cabinet. I really hope that he’d wake up soon and resist this humiliation,” Remulla said.