By Raïssa Robles
It’s not really clear what US Ambassador Kristie Kenney is denying or if she at all denied having written those unflattering things about the late President Corazon Aquino.
Let me explain.
First of all, I must confess I’m very fascinated by what Wikileaks has recently released regarding cables allegedly sent from the Manila waterfront to Washington.
It’s like having my ear pressed to the door of a heavily guarded room and you know, the US Embassy by the bay is one of the most tightly guarded places.
Kristie Kenney is one of a lengthening line of foreign officials who have distanced themselves from cables leaked from US embassies around the world.
But did Kristie Kenney actually DENY she had written what the leaked cable said?
Let’s examine the Twitter exchange on the matter.
It all started when Gerald Magno, a masteral student of International Studies at the University of the Philippines tweeted Kenney this morning:
Kenney tweeted back:
But did she really deny writing it?
Initially, I took that as a blanket denial.
On second thought, it could also mean she had said – believe SOME of the things you read but NOT ALL. So I would like to know, which ones I could believe and which ones I shouldn’t.
But then again, – “Don’t believe all you read” could be just like a general aphorism or saying, which really has nothing to do with the subject on hand.
In other words, it really doesn’t mean much unless she elaborates.
Because Kristie Kenney did not say right out – “No, I never wrote those things.” Or, “those words are not mine.”
Among reporters, we call what Kristie Kenney tweeted “ambassadorspeak”.
So far, Wikileaks has had a high batting average for being right on the money.
But you decide for yourself if the cable really reflects what Kenney said or we should just not believe ALL of it.
Or because what the cable says is simply not true of Cory Aquino. We really don’t know.
One thing foreign correspondents in Manila do know and do remember is that Kristie Kenney never gave the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) the time of her day. We did get to see her up close and meet her individually but she never ever gave Focap a formal briefing. Which is another way of saying, we never got the chance to give her a grilling.
One thing I can say about Kristie Kenney, though. She is a very personable woman who knows how to dance the papaya. I don’t know how to dance the papaya.
And she did protect US interests, which was her only job to do in Manila. As for protecting democracy from being abused locally, it was not part of her job description, I guess.
Here’s the text of the Wikileaks cable which Kristie Kenney allegedly wrote:
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001414
SENSITIVE
SIPDISSTATE FOR EAP/MTS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV RP
SUBJECT: IN POOR HEALTH, FORMER PRESIDENT CORY AQUINO FIGHTS ONE LAST BATTLEREF: MANILA 1262 (RALLY AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL REVISIONS DRAWS ONLY MODEST PARTICIPATION)
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino is in serious medical condition after a 15-month battle against cancer. Prospects for her recovery are dim. Family members rushed Aquino to Makati Medical Center nine days ago after she lost her appetite for food, and she has not eaten since, although she remains conscious and is able to speak.Relatives, friends, and political supporters began a nine-day healing mass July 1 for the country’s venerated moral icon, who was catapulted to the presidency in 1986 following the earlier assassination of her husband, opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. Two of Aquino’s five children are popular personalities in politics and media, and are likely to carry forth their mother’s support for democratic rule. In addition to her reputation as one the Philippines’ modern heroes, Aquino will leave behind the legacy of an incomplete transition to modern democracy and her well-known antipathy for the nation’s current chief, President Arroyo.
END SUMMARY.
STRUGGLING AGAINST CANCER
————————-¶2. (SBU) Former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino — or “President Cory,” as she is fondly called by most Filipinos — was diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2008 and was rushed to the hospital nine days ago for emergency chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Frail and weak from battling the disease and from not eating, she has refused to undergo additional procedures and rejected feeding through a nose tube. Aquino’s former Malacanang assistant Margie Juico said that the 76-year-old Aquino has already “surrendered to God’s will.” The Aquino family has asked the public to pray for her recovery during a nine-day mass. However, doctors say prospects for Aquino’s recovery are dim, making this battle the final challenge for an important public figure who defined the Philippines’ transition from authoritarianism to modern democratic rule more than twenty years ago, following in the footsteps of her celebrated husband, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., who was assassinated in 1983. In morning radio interviews July 2, the Ambassador told listeners that the prayers of Mrs. Aquino’s many admirers were with her and her family in hopes of a speedy recovery.
AQUINO CHILDREN MOURN MOTHER’S SICKNESS
—————————————¶3. (SBU) Aquino will leave behind five children, two of whom have become national figures. Son Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was elected to his first term as Senator in 2007 after serving three terms in Congress as representative of Tarlac province, political bailiwick of the Aquino-Cojuanco clan. He survived the 1987 failed coup attempt against his mother, when he was hit by five bullets as military rebels stormed the Presidential Palace, Malcanang. Benigno belongs to the oppositionist Liberal Party which will field Senator Manuel Roxas II as a leading candidate in the May 2010 presidential elections. Aquino’s highly popular and influential daughter, Kris, a show business personality who has generously footed her mother’s medical bills, has stated her intention to enter politics, possibly in 2010. The youngest of the Aquino brood, Kris was barely twelve years old when her father was assassinated in 1983. Aquino’s three other daughters kept low profiles during and after their mother’s six years in Malacanang. Having witnessed their father’s political persecution under the Marcos dictatorship, the Aquino children are inconsolable over losing their remaining pillar of strength.
“CORY” — ICON OF DEMOCRACY
—————————¶4. (SBU) The 1983 assassination of Aquino’s husband Ninoy during the Marcos regime triggered a “People Power” revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship and catapulted Cory Aquino to the presidency from 1986 through ¶1992. She is credited for helping restore Philippine democracy after twenty years under Marcos. However, her presidency was rocked by at least seven failed coup attempts. In a bloody 1989 coup attempt by the military, Aquino sought and received U.S. assistance to quell violence which killed nearly a hundred people, including some 50 civilians. Although she retired from politics after her six-year term, she became a visible figure in the moral crusade against government corruption during the Estrada and Arroyo administrations. Aquino maintained the respect of peers in the political establishment, including Senator Roxas, who called Aquino a “great leader” he could “respect and emulate.”
BUT ONLY A PARTIAL ICON OF MORALITY
———————————–¶5. (SBU) Once allied with President Arroyo, Aquino asked Arroyo to make the “supreme sacrifice” of resigning following Arroyo’s 2004 “Hello Garci” election fraud controversy and subsequent impeachment moves against her in the House of Representatives. Aquino has since supported civil society protests against President Arroyo (reftel), including efforts to block constitutional revisions that critics fear could perpetuate President Arroyo’s hold on power after her term expires in 2010. However, Aquino’s credibility as a moral crusader was tarnished when she was seen with disgraced former President Estrada in protest movements against President Arroyo — even after she supported then-Vice President Arroyo’s 2001 successful “second people power” revolt which ousted President Estrada. Her falling out with the Arroyo administration continued after President Arroyo’s move to distribute Hacienda Luisita, the huge Aquino-Cojuangco sugar estate in Tarlac, to farm workers under the government’s agrarian reform program.
COMMENT: THE AQUINO LEGACY
————————–¶6. (SBU) Revered as a hero for taking the reins of power at a difficult moment in Philippine politics, and at a time of great personal loss, President Aquino leaves behind an incomplete transition to democratic governance that, while marked by great personal freedom for Philippine citizens, never seems to have properly taken root in the institutions that must handle the difficult task of governing a diverse and divided society. Her moral leadership, while coming at an important time for the Philippines, never fully compensated for her weak leadership style. Her presidency was marked by numerous coup attempts and allegations of corruption. Following her tenure, her antipathy toward President Arroyo led her to ally with more dubious political figures such as former President Estrada, blemishing her reputation as a moral crusader. The Philippines must also live with an imperfect 1987 Constitution that, according to some observers, was passed in extreme haste to meet an artificial deadline imposed by Aquino, taking the country from one extreme — rigid rule under Marcos — to another extreme, in which minority parties and groups without defined constituencies (such as the Philippine Senate) are given extensive power at the expense of a more mature and stable political system.
KENNEY
The cable can be accessed here if the site is not down yet.
Ireneo M. Panopio says
Re: Wikileaks/Kristie Kenney subject.
With all the hype, I felt the need to poke into the issue, looking for a big fire. THERE WAS NO FIRE AT ALL! …just a lame report.
Alan says
the advantage to having shallow expectations met is that it’s a quick and fairly painless process
Mark Pere Madrona says
You can’t be an effective ambassador if you are reviled by your host country’s government (certainly experienced by Ms Kenney’s husband, the ex-US envoy to Venezuela) or by a majority of its people. I can’t help but admire how well-esteemed she is by most Filipinos. I guess Ms Kenney is being criticized harshly (especially by current foreign affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario) because she wrote unflattering views of the late former Pres. Corazon Aquino – a major taboo in our country. Ms Kenney’s views are refreshingly candid and, to me, accurate. Her sentiments merely echo the position taken by many political scientists and historians. As New York Times reporter wrote early this year, Pres. Cory herself betrayed People Power by having an alliance with Joseph Estrada.
Alan says
The steamed US Ambassador forgot to add how President Arroyo herself also made a deal with Joseph Estrada. After all, if memory serves me correctly, the main reason Arroyo was catapulted into power was public outrage over Estrada’s excesses, which her administration was expected to address. Well, she certainly did, didn’t she? Giving him a pardon so fast the jail door didn’t even have a chance to swing shut. Nope, no comment from the US ambassador, not even a “what was that all about?”
victor says
She mainly provided facts about Cory and little bit of conclusion based on the given facts and did not judge. Her reports did not have bias which would have made many Pinoys raised their eye brows if they were. The U.S. provided Philippines with a female ambassador to communicate with the female Presidents, and that was fair enough.
kaloyz60 says
what’s the beef with kenney’s cable? it is fair and truthful. cory’s alliance with estrada may have tainted her being a “moral crusader” but hey there’s nothing permanent in politics but political interests.
raissa says
So why do you think she seems to be distancing herself from it?
Menie says
It seems that the position of the US government is not to comment on any of the leaked documents. So Kenney is just following the US government position.
Besides, I agree with her assessment. People tend to look at Cory with rose-colored glasses and at Gloria with black-tinted ones. But things are not as black and white (or black and rose in this case, but maybe it should be black and yellow, but I am digressing,,,). Even heroes have feet of clay. I did feel that by aligning herself with Estrada, Cory left the moral high ground. Some may say that she was choosing the lesser of two evils. But did she have to? There were other options, but these may not have caught the public’s imagination, or need for drama.
I think people are overreacting to Kenney’s assessment. She is calling a spade a spade, when they want it to be called a silver spoon.
Rallie F. Cruz says
Here is a scenario.
Arroyo husband and wife team is a formidable foe. By the way they managed to run away from responsibility is an obvious sign that they cannot easily be defeated by truth no matter how good and strong it is.
They have perfectly polished all angles that would put them down and those that can easily be disposed off have already vanished. With the Marcoses keeping silent have no qualms against the Arroyo and the combined plundered wealth can be hard to put the two down.
Estrada, an obvious enemy of the Arroyos can only be a remedy to give Cory some leverage. This may have tainted Cory’s moral crusade but I know she had a very limited choice to keep her ground.
Good and Evil is never designed to allow any of the two to win over each. We have it as an instrument of choices in a given situation for what stake is greatly at risk. Wise man do not just blindly choose what is good but what is right and just which would also mean what is appropriate ( not necessarily perfect but just balance). Even the Bible have list of God’s favorite that were not spared from moral disgrace.
libertas says
kenney was always a lightweight – a videoke girl – one colleague called her.
in the end it was her lack of strategic insights which got her sacked – er reassigned, and her inane twitter comment underlines her lack of experience and gravitas.
J says
True. Someone in the know in Washington once met with former US ambassador to PH and when the topic switch to Kenney, they were like “who’s that person?” Truly, the PH had been downgraded at that time that the US sent a “total unknown” in DC, despite the posting being a prime position in the State Dept– all the previous ambassadors were heavyweight, like Byroad, Bosworth, Boleyn and Negroponte.