Guess who came to dinner: Obama's Philippines reception featured a colourful cast
Obama praised President Benigno Aquino's parents for standing up to dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose son was also there.
What if they threw a state dinner and everybody came? In the case of the Philippines’ reception for US President Barack Obama, that would mean a guest list with plenty of colour.
Two former presidents (one of them a convicted plunderer), a dictator’s son, a martial law enforcer and a serial coup plotter were among those who sat down with Obama at Monday’s state dinner hosted by President Benigno Aquino.
During the dinner, Obama paid tribute to Aquino’s parents, Ninoy and Cory, and their sacrifices that “the nation might be free” of the martial law dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Seated nearby was the dead dictator’s son, Ferdinand Marcos (Bongbong) Jnr, currently a senator. Near him was Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, notorious for being the elder Marcos’s right-hand man. Enrile is currently being prosecuted by government for allegedly taking part in a plot to steal billions of pesos in public “pork barrel” funds. The younger Marcos is also being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman for the same scam.
Obama praised Aquino, saying, “you bear the scars of those who would have taken this nation backwards.” He was referring to five bullet wounds Aquino suffered during an ambush in one coup attempt in 1987. That putsch was led by yet another one of the dinner guests, Senator Gringo Honasan, who masterminded many bloody military uprisings that killed hundreds of Filipinos.
Apart from Ramos there was another former president at the dinner, Joseph Estrada, who was chased out of office in 2001, then tried and sentenced to 30 years for plunder. He was pardoned by yet another surviving ex-president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.