After two centuries of emancipation, the Philippines is once again entangled with her colonizer, Spain. This time, the issue revolves not on colonialism but on the gold medal awarded by Universidad de Alcala de Henares to the sitting Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. No, it is not about Mrs. Arroyo cheating her way to get the gold medal the way she was accused on getting herself declared as the winner of the 2004 presidential elections. Neither it is about the neutrality of Spain's selection committee the way rumors have it against the Filipinos during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games when the country reaped gold medals, or the way Filipino boxers complain against the judges for this year's SEA Games hosted by Thailand. The issue is about the credibility of Arroyo as a recipient of the award – a stirring that places the Spanish King and his government in grave embarassment before the eyes of the international community and observers.
Reports have it that during Mrs. Arroyo's visit to Spain this December, the Universidad of Alcala de Henares, through its 
Rector, Virgilio Zapatero, gave Mrs. Arroyo a medalla de oro. The medal is for championing human rights and junking the death penalty law in the Philippines. The problem: The human rights community headed by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates and civil society organizations in the Philippines petitioned King Juan Carlos I of Spain to recall the medal as the Philippine president is the number one human rights violator in the post-Marcos era. According to the petitioners, it appears that Luis Arias Romero, Spain's Ambassador to the Philippines, did not properly do his homework by apprising his country of the human rights situation in the Philippines. He failed to consider facts and circumstances as evidences against the eligibility of Mrs. Arroyo for the gold medal. Some of these are as follows:
- The report of Philip Alston, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. The report shows that there are about 800 extrajudicial executions in the Philippines most of which were done during the Arroyo Administration. The executions were primarily centered against activists, civil society leaders, human rights advocates, labor union leaders, and land reform advocates. Most of these were allegedly conducted by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The armed forces, however, remains under the state of denial and Mrs. Arroyo, in her capacity as the Commander-in-Chief, only pays lip service. This is also being corroborated by the reports of the Amnesty International.
- The reports of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Reporters without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists. The reports show the presence of a culture of impunity in the Philippines particularly under the Arroyo Administration. For instance, of the 90 journalists killed (or most likely killed) since 1986, 60% happened during the Arroyo Administration alone. Worse, nobody is apprised as to how many of these are solved – meaning, the perpetrators are convicted and are already serving their sentences. As a result, the Philippines was branded as the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists next to Iraq.
- The arrest and detention of journalists and media practitioners. Just recently, a number of journalists and media practitioners were arrested, tied, and detained for covering the Manila Pen seige – an outright violation of the freedom of the press on the part of the practitioners and a curtailment of the freedom to information on the part of the audience;
- The curfew. Immediately after the journalists were detained, a martial law-like curfew was imposed against the people in the National Capital Region and the surrounding areas – a clear violation of the right of the people to travel.
- Repressive policies and proclamations. For several times, the right of the people to assemble and petition the government for redress and grievances were also banned. Mrs. Arroyo even issued Presidential Proclamation 1017 and Executive Order 464 which were later declared unconstitutional by the Philippine Supreme Court.
- Poverty, Hunger and Unemployment. There is also this continuing failure of the Arroyo government to answer the issues of poverty, hunger and unemployment – issues which negatively affects the economic rights of the Filipinos. The Social Weather Stations, for instance, noted that as of February 2007, self-rated poverty still lingers at 53% while those who experienced severe hunger is pegged at 19%. The Department of Labor also sees unemployment at 11% while a majority of those employed earns below $1 a day. In striking contrasts, stories of high ranking officials including the first family getting involved in anomalous deals like national broadband deal and the liquified fertilizer, literally and figuratively, with multi-million dollar kickbacks abound thus adding insult to injury. This situation, as recognized in several international documents, will hamper the full exercise of one's civil and political rights.
Just like the gloomy days that preceded the Hyatt 10, Mrs. Arroyo's lips are sealed. Only Presidential deputy spokesman Lorelei Fajardo and Presidential Legal Adviser Sergio Apostol were talking. Fajardo argues with her scare tactic while Apostol tops it with an argumentum ad hominem. According to Fajardo the petitioners are only putting the country in bad light – a line of argument which had been used by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCCI) in defense of the ZTE deal. Quoting Sergio Ortiz-Luis of the PCCI: “Other countries are watching the Philippines and that if the ZTE contract will not push through, there might be some repercussions on the country particularly on the aspect of trade relations.”
Apostol, meanwhile, circled around the issue by attacking the petitioners and branding them as communists. The problem, Apostol seemed to have forgotten the elementary principle that the respect for human rights is the essence of democracy.
In a sense, the responses of Apostol and Fajardo just aggravated the situation by reinforcing the claims of the petitioners. Fajardo's message, for instance, prefers trading injustice and disrespect for human rights with a gold medal while for Apostol, the freedom of expression is reserved only for the non-communists and democracy, for those who praise the government. These statements simply show the kind of government Arroyo has and that doesn't really deserve the medal awarded her.
But will Mrs. Arroyo part with the gold she received?
Taking cues from her previous actions, it appears that she will cling to the medal the way she clung to the presidential seat. If this happens, she will just aggravate the situation by further placing King Carlos in embarassment.
The medal to remain in the hands of Mrs. Arroyo will mean that the King approves the human rights record of Philippine president – a very poor judgment in the standard of the United Nations who received the report of Alston. It will also mean an insult to the victims of human rights violations especially those who are still seeking justice. And the monarch might suffer drawbacks from these as well as occassional lashes from the international media who think that the Philippines is the second most dangerous place for journalists. But of course, the king cannot just recall the medal as he will also be offending Mrs. Arroyo. Recalling the medal is like licking the saliva he already spat out. The most that he can do is to relieve Romero from his post as Spain's Ambassador to the Philippines. Doing so, however, might also have consequences against him, his fallibility, and his taste. In simple terms, he is at a deadlock.
Relieving Romero, however, will mean a slap on Mrs. Arroyo's face and a blackeye from the international community. The only option left for her is to deposit the medal to a neutral entity and claim it back only after she is able to polish her human rights records. But it is doubtful she will release her grip to the medal. This being the case, the medal will just be a continuing reminder of an honor with questionable credibility just like her presidency with the ever-flourishing issue of “Hello, Garci!”. #### Sphere: Related Content
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