A free ride it wasn’t
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It can’t be helped but notice the degree of urgency in Noynoy’s tour of the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson where practically the whole Aquino Cabinet was present.
Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said that the invitation to tour the carrier had been made a long time ago but it was only accepted fairly recently such as the exact moment when the US asked Noynoy and his wards to board the carrier last Friday.
Carandang, however, cannot deny that the invitation was so sudden that Noynoy did not even have time to cancel the courtesy call of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao who arrived from his US bout with Shane Mosley on the same day that the tour was suddenly on the agenda for the day of Noynoy.
The militants speculate that the whisking away of Noynoy to the US ship out in the high seas prior to the docking of the US battle fleet in Manila had something to do with the recent visit of US government officials at Subic Bay to explore the possibility of an interim base while a massive military installation is still being set up in Guam.
What also raised suspicion in the carrier visit was the aerial show of the capability of modern F-16s to Noynoy while in the carrier as if an offer is being laid on the table.
The Philippines remains without any respectable air force to defend the country even as outside threats primarily involving the contested Spratly’s islands increase mainly from Chinese forces.
Carandang also likened the carrier tour to a courtesy call on Noynoy that appears to have been done in reverse with Aquino making the call on the ship’s captain.
The ship was also the same vessel that carried the body of the slain Osama bin Laden before it was thrown into the sea that gave it some significance in the American anti-terror campaign in which the Philippines is considered a theater in the war on terror.
Remnants of the al-Qaeda are expected to use the Philippines as a launching pad for their operations and major Muslim groups linked to the terror network still operate in the country.
The Americans are expected to step up their global campaign against groups that they consider to be part of the al-Qaeda terrorist network with bin Laden dead.
It would be hard to believe that Noynoy and nearly his whole Cabinet were all brought to the US carrier for a mere joyride that happened all too sudden and all too secretly as most of the nation learned where Noynoy really was only after the supposed tour was done with.
Noynoy and the Palace owe it to the public to provide the full details of what brought about the USS Carl Vinson tour instead of allowing the nation to suddenly wake up anytime soon on another secret deal with the Americans.
The military basing issue looms large and real amid the US military campaign against terror near the region and Noynoy boarding suddenly a US aircraft carrier raises a lot of question about its real purpose.
Noynoy had promised a transparent government to the people and he should start showing commitment to his vow by coming out clean on the supposed unscheduled tour.
Carandang said that was part of a routine visit of the carrier group under the Visiting Forces Agreement which it was not since this was the first time in recent memory that a Philippine president or presumably another country was willingly whisked away to a US vessel out in the open seas.
Had it been his birthday, Noynoy’s claim for a sudden free tour with an aerial show onboard the US carrier would have been believable.
Unfortunately his birthday was in February.
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