A pleasant surprise. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warmly greets students and journalists during the forum held in UST.
UNITED STATES (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never supposed that one day she would become one of the most powerful women in politics.
“[It] has been a remarkable honor for me to have had the chance to serve,” said Clinton on November 14, during the Manila Forum at the University of Santo Tomas College of Medicine Auditorium.
Clinton’s visit to the Philippines was a stop-over before she attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore. Her two-day stay consisted of courtesy calls with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a visit to the typhoon-stricken Marikina.
Over 800 students from different Manila-based universities listened as she discussed topics that ranged from the peace processes in Burma and Mindanao to more personal ones such as who her “crush [is], aside from Bill Clinton.”
The lack of dialogue
Apart from the audience, students from two universities in Visayas and Mindanao also asked questions through live reports from Siliman University in Dumaguete and Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
Despite this, students were unable to dialogue with Clinton in the actual forum. “The forum wasn’t an avenue for substantial or concrete examples of development in the country… it was very general,” said Sanggunian President Gio Tingson.
Tingson attended the forum, along with other Sanggunian and Council of Organizations in the Ateneo (COA) members.
Tingson added that the forum was unable to emphasize the importance of youth involvement. However, he admits that Clinton “can’t answer all the questions for us.”
“We know what we’re capable of. It would be ironic if we keep asking Hillary Clinton for the answers,” he said.
“She answered in a very diplomatic way, so it lacked the ‘scandal’ I was looking for,” said COA President Miggy Zaballero. He thinks that Clinton’s visit should inspire the youth to choose the right leaders during the coming elections.
Tingson said that it would have been better for students to ask Clinton her thoughts on what is already being done. “We should’ve been asking for her opinion as we try to define ourselves,” he said.
Only two students from the audience were able to ask the Secretary of State questions, one was former Blue Eagle Chris Tiu (BS ME ’08) who first prompted Clinton about reducing poverty in the country.
However, it was his second question that made headlines. “What do you think would be the result [of the match] between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto?” he asked to which Clinton gamely responded with a confident, “Of course he’s (Pacquiao) going to win… Is there any doubt?”
Commitment and development
“Her visit somehow affirms the support of the US to [the Philippines],” said Zaballero. “[This is especially important] given the economic hardships and the recent calamities,” he said.
“The Philippines has been making progress,” Clinton said. She also added that she was “impressed at how the government has been [fixing the destruction caused by the typhoons].”
However, she admitted that there is still much to be done. She emphasized the need for education and healthcare in order to fight poverty in the country.
An individual approach to solving problems, she said could also work in addressing the national issues. “People themselves have to take responsibility and organize themselves,” she added.
For Clinton, addressing “one life at a time” is an important part in the attempt to alleviate poverty.
She added that the government should also be more accountable to their citizenry and the US’ Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) tries to address this. MCA is a development fund to promote anti-corruption.
“The biggest tool against corruption in any society is public exposure,” she said. Citizens have to stand up to corruption and be vocal in order for it to be an issue in the political system, she added.
Slowly and surely
Using the situation in Burma as an example, Clinton also spoke of the importance of patience when dealing with human rights issues. She commended the Philippines in being one of the “strongest voices on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi.”
“[Southeast Asian countries] should also help us support the kind of changes towards democracy that would benefit the Burmese people,” she said.
The Obama administration, said Clinton, has become more open to reaching out to people with whom they did not agree with.
In the nine months that the Obama administration has been in the helm, Clinton says they have tried to reverse policies that were not very productive. “But things don’t happen overnight; it takes a while,” she said.
Clinton also related the peace process in Mindanao with her husband, former US president Bill Clinton’s efforts to establish peace in the Middle East in 2000.
She recalled how she and her husband “got so close… [that] maybe [it] would have gotten somewhere” when his term ended. Only after former president Clinton left office did Palestine President Yassir Arafat accept the deal. By then, the Clintons could do nothing.
“When people are in the mood and willing to make peace, do not sleep, do not rest until you finally get there,” she said.
