Friday, November 07, 2008 No Arroyo-Obama meet: Palace
AFTER failing to get a hold of US president-elect Barack Obama over the phone, Malacañang on Thursday said a meeting with Obama is not up in the agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she goes to the US this month.
This was contrary to earlier statement of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who made mention that a possible meeting with Obama is high in Arroyo's agenda.
Arroyo will be attending the UN General Assembly on interfaith dialogues from November 12-13.
"There is no such plan in the first place," Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a radio interview, adding that Obama will assume the US presidency in January and Arroyo has a "different intention" in going to the US.
Dureza said Obama's non-availability when Arroyo called up Wednesday is no big deal. "He will assume office on January 20 so we understand but I must emphasize, the Arroyo-Obama meet is not in the UN event plan."
According to him, there is a proper time and forum for such a meeting.
US Ambassador Kristie Ann Kenney, in a separate radio interview, said Obama is not meeting with foreign leaders during the UN event because he is busy assembling his Cabinet and going through the transition period before his assumption of office.
Kenney said she told Arroyo during a briefing on the results of the US elections Wednesday that they were not accepting any request for meetings with Obama.
She further said there will be no withdrawal of US troops from the Philippines under an Obama presidency.
"Obama had been a member of the Senate committees that authorized US troops in the Philippines," she added. "It is the Armed Forces of the Philippines which determines how US troops are to be deployed in the country."
Kenney also said US-based call centers are more likely to stay in the Philippines rather fold up due to Obama's stance to help Americans find jobs.
"The economists will tell you a good call center industry helps with jobs in America as well because it's the services provided that grow the businesses. If you bought a US product and are dealing with a service center in the Philippines you get good service and you say I might buy another one of their products, so you actually create jobs by having these good call centers," Kenney said.
Ermita, in an ambush interview before the signing of air transport agreements in Malacañang by Asean transportation ministers, said it is "too early" to gauge the impact of an Obama presidency on the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
He said Obama is still selecting his Cabinet members and thinking of what to do about the global financial crisis. "So I think it's too early for us to make some prediction of their foreign policy and their policy on commerce and trade." (JMR/Sunnex)
