WHEN US president George W. Bush held his last Asian trip before his term ended, he made sure he visited countries of impact.

It was before the opening of the Olympics 2008 in China last August and there was worldwide attention on Asia.

Valentine's 2009 blog

Bush travelled to South Korea, then Thailand, before proceeding to the games in China in his three-country Asia tour. There was little or no mention of the Philippines.

Now, with US President Barack Obama at the helm, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton decided to look to the east for her first trip abroad as member of the White House team. She picked an Asia tour. There was a reason for choosing Asia but it did not involve the Philippines.

Clinton’s trip is to take her to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China. According to an Associated Press report, new secretaries of state have typically made their initial overseas trips to Europe or the Middle East. Clinton’s trip is seen as a gesture to reassure Asian friends and allies of their standing with the US, it said. The countries in her itinerary are those whose futures are “inextricably linked” with the US, the report said quoting Clinton.

The Philippines can force that link with the US by bringing the case of convicted rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith to Clinton’s attention.

Smith is currently held within US Embassy grounds after he was convicted of raping a Filipina in 2006 inside the former Subic naval base. A Supreme Court decision last Feb. 11 ordered that Smith be transferred to a prison facility managed by Philippine authorities. But implementation of the high court’s order is expected to be delayed as the US Embassy has not given any indication it would transfer Smith and the Philippine government had said its hands were “tied” because Smith’s conviction is still on appeal.

If US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney cannot act on Smith’s transfer, then it is up to the Philippine government to demand action by forcing the matter to Clinton. The Philippines cannot afford to sit still and wait for the US.

The Smith case is unfinished business that would have to be resolved quick to make the most of Clinton’s Asia tour to reassure friends, even if the Philippines was not in the itinerary.

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It was a post-Valentine’s Day affair and our dates were some 60 young men, all single, mostly of medium build, dark, and aged 18 and below.

They are youth offenders seeking care at the Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Youth of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Candabong, Argao. The center offers therapy and education for the rehabilitation of these youth who resorted to crime because of poverty, ignorance or parental neglect.

Last Feb. 15, some 20 officers and members of the Bicol Association of Cebu Inc. (BACI) showed these young men that there are people who cared. The center’s residents and their visitors heard mass, ate lunch and shared gifts.

The Bicolanos in Cebu, led by association president Fr. Jerome Cayetano, SVD, hold their annual outreach program at the center to help the youth and to continue with the practice of loving and sharing started by the late Justice German Lee, BACI founder.

(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)