What do we Filipinos see in the forthcoming trip of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to America on July 30?

Let us first consider that the Filipino people are asking the Arroyo administration to explain why we have been sinking deeper in the quagmire of poverty these past nine years despite her claims of success in her economic programs. The fact is that more and more of our poor have been dying from sickness and hunger, apparently because foreign investors, more than the Filipino people, are benefiting from our economy.

Ms Arroyo doesn?t seem to have any answers as to why we suffer in our own country while foreigners enjoy their stay here. The question therefore is: Is she going to America to get instructions from President Barack Obama on how to cover up greed in leadership, which was allowed by both the Bush and Arroyo administrations? Wasn?t the conspiracy evident in the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States?

The deception can no longer be disguised. The visit to the United States is therefore just an attempt by Ms Arroyo to save herself from forced resignation and jail. The Filipino people can no longer be deceived.

?ERNESTO KELLY MAGTOTO,
Las Piñas City