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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Gov't welcomes Bush admission it was wrong to back dictators (12:10 p.m.)
MANILA -- The Philippines, which overthrew a US-backed strongman in 1986, on Thursday welcomed President George W. Bush's statement that Washington was wrong to prop up foreign dictators.
Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo "welcomed the candid admission of President Bush that the US had made the mistake of compromising with dictators," a foreign department statement said, referring to the American leader's UN General Assembly speech on Tuesday.
The Bush speech coincided with the 32nd anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos' imposition of martial rule in this former US colony.
Urging international support for the US project to spread democracy in war-torn Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, Bush said, "for too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability.
"Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach," Bush said.
Marcos was overthrown in a bloodless popular uprising in 1986 when Washington withdrew its support to his 20-year rule after a fraud-marred presidential election. He died in exile in Hawaii three years later.
"There is little debate on the relationship between promoting basic human rights and the security and stability of a nation. Democratic states provide the best security for their people and their rights," Romulo said.
He said despite previous "differences" between Manila and Washington over Iraq after President Arroyo recalled a military contingent to save the life of a truck driver held hostage there by Islamic militants, the Philippines backed the rebuilding of Iraq.
"This is a call that the Philippines can support, in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1546," he said, referring to a UN call for foreign help to the US-backed Iraqi interim government to restore security so democratic elections could be held next year.
"The issue of Iraq now is an issue of rebuilding. Rebuilding relations affected by differences over Iraq, and rebuilding Iraq as a country, democratic and free, at peace with itself and with its neighbors," Romulo said. (AFP) |
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