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March 2, 2009

By: Arnel Oroceo

 

 

 

 

 

All America is looking at President Barrack Hussein Obama, the first African-American to become President of the United States of America. He represents the dream of every black American to rise up from racial discrimination. He comes from the slaves of old and is now the master of the future of a great world power. He leads America and the world will definitely follow.

 

As the nations of the world extend their greeting, they expect him to do some drastic reforms that would put the US economy back on track. Some investors’ anxiety about the reforms has resulted to a slide in the trading in Dow Jones the day after the victory of Obama. However, the majority of the American people are optimistic that the new president will deliver.

 

Previously, mud-slinging campaigns marked the start of the election fever in the United States particularly between Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton who were vying for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Even people outside America seem turned off with the kind of politics they had witnessed. However, who plays clean? Even here in the Philippines, mud slinging had been the typical breakfast for politicians. However, as many had expected, Obama won over Clinton and became the official candidate for the position of President of the United States. Interestingly, the heat of the campaign did not sever their political relationship. Senator Hillary Clinton announced her full support to the candidacy of Senator Barrack Obama and the rest is history. After Obama won the presidency, he surprisingly appointed Clinton as US Secretary of State. America’s political playground might still be far from the ideal but is definitely enviable for any third world democracy.

 

Another important turn that I would like to point out about the past US presidential election aside from the quick result is the seeming political civility among candidates particularly after the elections. The presidential candidates may be at war against each other but they reconcile after the election. I do not remember any fiercely battled electoral protest except for former US Vice President Al Gore’s protest against former US President George W. Bush, which the Vice President eventually drops.

 

I would like to express my full respect to the Republican candidate John McCain. His speech after accepting his loss, I believe, is one of the greatest speeches in American political history. Ironically, it comes from one who has lost the election. He says that they have done everything but they have fallen short. Yet it is not the failure of his supporters, but his own personal failure. He has called for support for the man who used to be his opponent but now has become his president… for the sake of America that they both love…

I am not an American but I have felt the warmth of those words. It has struck me deeply and I envy America for having such a political leader in their democratic government. McCain may have lost the election, but he should have earned a place in the heart of American democracy. If only for that, long live America!

 

Meanwhile, President Barrack Hussein Obama swore in as the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 and promised to “begin again the work of remaking America”. The world witnessed the historical event while more than a million flag-waving hopeful Americans gather in Washington DC with pride as they behold the fulfillment of what used to be an impossible dream. President Obama, the first black President of America recited the oath with his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used at his inauguration 148 years ago.

 

His inaugural speech spoke of hope, “Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America, they will be met.” Those were the words of assurance that Americans needed to hear. The rest of the world shares the same hope that this would be the start of a new era of global change for the better.

 

The economic reforms would begin with the signing of the US$787 billion Economic Stimulus Bill by President Obama last Tuesday, February 17, 2009. An article on the Daily News online by David Saltonstall, Daily News Senior Correspondent, reported that Obama told a cheering crowd in Denver, "We have begun the essential work of keeping the American Dream alive in our time. I don't want to pretend that today marks the end of our economic problems, nor does it constitute all of what we are going to have to do to turn our economy around, but today does mark the beginning of the end.”

 

The article also said, “The stimulus bill provides for a range of goodies from $800-a-year tax cuts for middle-class families to billions in new spending on roads, bridges and schools. Among the earliest beneficiaries could be New York City schoolteachers, 14,000 of whom may now be able to continue pursuing their critical mission," Obama said.

 

The Stimulus Bill President Obama signed also provided US$198 Million for Filipino World War II Veterans. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced a new benefit for Filipino Veterans who aided American troops in World War II - a cash payment authorized through the newly enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 

Filipino Veterans are eligible for one-time payments of $9,000 for non-US citizens and $15,000 for Filipino Veterans with US citizenship. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) press release, they are working to begin making payments as soon as possible. Filipino war veterans can now file claims at the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office at the General Headquarters, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo Quezon City Philippines up to February 16, 2010, a year after President Obama signed the bill.

 

Many veterans are thankful about the monetary assistance to the old and feeble veterans who are now approaching the sunset of life. However, the assistance covers only the veterans who are still alive when they file their claim. It does not cover the legal beneficiaries of those veterans who have already died waiting for their rightful compensation. The government of America, in 1941, has promised to pay the Filipino soldiers who would join the United States Armed Force in the Far East (USAFFE) equal benefits with the American soldiers but to this date, the US government has failed to fulfill that promise.

 

The Senate of the United States has continually rejected the Equity Bill for Filipino Veterans of World War II. Only the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that gives a one-time lump sum payment to Filipino Veterans has passed the US Senate. The Filipino veterans are thankful but that one-time payment is the end of America’s responsibility to them. I think it is not enough. The battle of Bataan and Corregidor has displayed the gallantry of Filipino and American soldiers who had fought side by side. It was one momentous time in history when Filipinos and Americans were one in life and blood.

 

When losing the battle became imminent, General Douglas McArthur left Bataan although he made the promise “I shall return.” He orphaned the Filipino and American soldiers. Greatly demoralized due to lack of supply and disease, eventually, they fell in the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. They endured the Death March and the suffering from war prison in Capas, Tarlac. In 1946, when General McArthur returned and retook the Philippine Islands from Japanese occupation, history taught that America returned indeed. However, it seemed that they returned only for their soldiers but they had left Filipino soldiers behind. The promised compensation had since then been forgotten. It is not all about the money but the honor and pride of equity between brothers in arms. Nevertheless, there is still reason to be thankful to the new President of America for signing into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which gave recognition to the gallantry of the Filipino veterans of World War 2. If only for that, long live America!

 

Today, the world faces an equally fierce war but on a different battlefield. This time, it is the world’s economies together against economic recession with America at the helm. Whether we admit it or not, much depend on America’s economic growth. President Obama is on a tough spot and every nation is watching him. This time everybody hopes that President Obama will not become an image of a broken promise once again. Nevertheless, just as he invoked upon God’s grace, may the Lord bless the new president of the United States of America with success.

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