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Inside Philippine politics & beyond

An Obama tale too delicious not to tell

April 29, 2014

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OBAMA-Visit-state-dinnerThe state dinner for POTUS was delicious.

The guest list was something else. It was so weird that my hubby Alan just had to write it for South China Morning Post. Here is his story:

Guess who came to dinner: Obama’s Philippines reception featured a colourful cast

By Alan Robles

What if they threw a state dinner and everybody came? In the case of the Philippines’ reception for US President Barack Obama, that would mean a guest list with plenty of colour.

Two former presidents (one of them a convicted plunderer), a dictator’s son, a martial law enforcer and a serial coup plotter were among those who sat down with Obama at Monday’s state dinner hosted by President Benigno Aquino.

During the dinner, Obama paid tribute to Aquino’s parents, Ninoy and Cory, and their sacrifices that “the nation might be free” of the martial law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Seated nearby was the dead dictator’s son, Ferdinand Marcos (Bongbong) Jnr, currently a senator. Near him was Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, notorious for being the elder Marcos’s right-hand man. Enrile is currently being prosecuted by government for allegedly taking part in a plot to steal billions of pesos in public “pork barrel” funds. The younger Marcos is also being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman for the same scam.

Obama praised Aquino, saying, “you bear the scars of those who would have taken this nation backwards.” He was referring to five bullet wounds Aquino suffered during an ambush in one coup attempt in 1987. That putsch was led by yet another one of the dinner guests, Senator Gringo Honasan, who masterminded many bloody military uprisings that killed hundreds of Filipinos.

The coups were all attempts to install dinner guest Enrile as president. Honasan was pardoned by another one of the dinner attendees, former President Fidel Ramos, who has frequently criticized President Aquino’s foreign policy handling of the South China Sea dispute

Apart from Ramos there was another former president at the dinner, Joseph Estrada, who was chased out of office in 2001, then tried and sentenced to 30 years for plunder. He was pardoned by yet another surviving ex-president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Ms Arroyo could not make it to the dinner: she’s been under hospital arrest since 2010, also charged with the crime of plunder.

It was the first time Estrada had set foot in the palace in an official capacity since his ouster. His presence provoked a Facebook comment from arts and culture writer John Silva: “Convicted plunderer and pardoned Joseph Estrada is at the presidential table in the state dinner for President Obama. How screwy is that? Why don’t you just invite Gloria Arroyo too while you’re at it!”

Others chimed in, recalling how Estrada, as a senator, voted to reject a new agreement on US bases in 1991, leading to their closure. He even starred in an anti-US bases film called Sa Kuko ng Agila (In the Eagle’s Claw).

To read the rest, please click on this link.

 

Tagged With: POTUS state dinner, President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino III, President of the United States Barack Obama

Comments

  1. baycas says

    May 14, 2014 at 8:51 PM

    Three lists released:

    1. I invoke my right against self-incrimination.

    • baycas says

      May 14, 2014 at 8:52 PM

      2. Hindi ko po alam.

    • baycas says

      May 14, 2014 at 8:53 PM

      3. Hindi ko po matandaan.

  2. Martial Bonifacio says

    May 14, 2014 at 12:04 AM

    @Victin Luz @Leona
    http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/57969-napoles-list

    In my opinion i will give Napoles and her list a benefit of the doubt if she goes to senate, take an oath and prove every detail in it. But like moonie, vander anievas, jorge bernas, the unsigned paper/list & affidavit is very doubtful let alone her credibility.

    Note:
    A copy of unsigned Napoles list, affidavit for everyone’s info.
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/601898/lacsons-napoles-list-leaks-wheres-santiago

    • moonie says

      May 16, 2014 at 4:33 AM

      martial, if called to the senate, napoles can feigned memory loss. she has just undergone operation and when visited by de lima at the hospital, napoles could say she was under strong medication and was blabbing incoherent. not of sound mind at the time. napoles could even say that de lima took advantage of her frailness and pushed on.

  3. Victin Luz says

    May 13, 2014 at 9:32 AM

    He he TOO LATE THE RELEASED and TOO late the HERO ( Lacson ). … lacson and De lima both an alter ego of PNOY ..i should say kasama sila sa moro-morong taguan, bawasan at dagdagan blue’s and walang nang mangyayari sa kaso nina ENRILE, REVILLA at ESTRADA because if you go to the GRASSROOTs 90% wanted BINAY to be their next President on 2016 then aabutan nya ang kaso, dismissed iyan at tuloy ligaya sa nakawan … ha ha cleansed the names of those Senators with a strong possibilities to be prosecuted and include Cayetano and Escudero ,the enemies of an ally of PNOY he he… Siraan na di CONGRATs BINAY na iyan….

    • leona says

      May 13, 2014 at 8:53 PM

      …gusto ko masaya ka sa Hit List!

      …gusto ko Matuwid Daan na Hit List!

      …gusto ko Deny ang Hit List!

      …gusto ko I say it was 2 years ago I rejected the Hit List!

      …now, everyone has a HIT LIST! Laclist; De List; Camlist; Merriamlist; Noylist; Abadlist; Cayetalist; Honsalist; Butchalist; Sexlist; Pogilist; Tandalist;

      Porkylists by Napolists! Only in ‘Pinas on FUNLISTS!

      • Victin Luz says

        May 13, 2014 at 10:18 PM

        Ha ha i like it @ atty leona the Hated LIST he he cause only GRACE POE can top the LIST eventhough BINAY and ROXAS are on their Best, like a BEAST ….

        • leona says

          May 14, 2014 at 6:47 PM

          …how many thousands or millions ‘steps’ those TWO: Binay & Roxas will make up to January 2016 or before that?

          …who will be tripped? Slipped? Dulas kamo? So, the two must be treading very much carefully today and hereafter to that time period.

          …one or the two will tripped; slipped or dulas! Why? ‘Cause the FIGHT has already started since this HIT LIST! hahaha

          …it won’t stop anymore. More BAHO will be coming out now and thereafter.

          …the mark of Zorro – his X will be made on so many nowadays to come…ob the beasts! +666! hahaha

      • moonie says

        May 14, 2014 at 5:04 AM

        scam lists badly executed. backfiring on napoles. if multiple copies of the list were to be passed on, common office courtesy would be simple notation on the copies themselves that copies were also sent to others, thus informing all recepients that they’re in possession of identical copies. and if the list is to be updated, the recepients are duly informed and new copies forwarded to them.

        scammers could not be bothered with this kind of simple courtesy. they dont bother with signing their names too. I say napoles was just being spiteful. must have been her medication. made her irritable, stressed and in scamming mode again. and her under the saya husband is only too willing to comply.

        gaya ng sinabi ni leona, deny the hit lists. they’re probably writtien on recycled toilet paper. good only for burning.

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