This quotable quote is from Justice (?) Secretary Raul "Noted" Gonzales. He said it following the sneaky midnight transfer of convicted American rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the US Embassy.

So now we owe the conspirators a debt of gratitude for their highly irregular and illegal act? Wowowee!

But you know what? It probably would have been the best thing that Ms. Gloria M. Arroyo and her co-conspirators could have done for the Filipino people – to pardon Smith. It could have resulted in the people making up their mind to finally dispense with their services.

***

But who will pick up the pieces if and when that happens?

Have you seen the photographs in last weekend’s papers showing some of the leading members of the so-called United Opposition?

Have you also noticed the persistent mention of certain names, both old and new, in the bruited likely opposition senatorial line-up for the coming (?) elections?

Not very inspiring, are they?

I believe that with the present unpopularity of Ms. Arroyo, the opposition can garner a majority in the Senate even if it does not include in its slate candidates on the basis of their "winnability" alone.

In fact, I daresay the opposition can make a clean sweep of the senatorial election if it were to field only candidates of known probity, integrity and ability.

Let us not add any more NPAs (non-performing assets) or "tired, tried and tested" persons, or others whose main qualification is their celebrity status or their being related to influential opposition figures, to that august assembly. For a change, let us think of having once more a Senate that is truly august and deserving of the people’s trust and confidence, a main source of and training ground for future national leaders.

***

The truth is I and many other objective observers would really not mind doing away with the Senate given its present composition and track record. Oh sure, it has had its moments in thwarting insidious moves by the administration.

But, by and large, many people wish it had more members they can look up to with admiration and respect or, to put it more succinctly, many people wish it did not have several members they simply could not look up to with admiration and respect.

***

Ms. Arroyo batted for a review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), swiftly echoed by her Executive Secretary, Press Secretary and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, her rumored next foreign secretary. Omigosh!

But less than twenty-four hours after the US Embassy spokesperson pointedly said that a review would be "premature," Ms. Arroyo made a hasty U-turn.

Could she have been reminded of the reason/s why she felt compelled in the first place to turn over Smith to the Americans?

In any event, had she not changed her mind, we can take for granted that the US would have employed bullying and other tactics, blackmail included, to prevent a VFA review. It is plain to see they want and need the VFA more than we do. That was obvious from the very beginning. I just can’t understand why our authorities refuse to see that.

It is not far-fetched the Americans would have cancelled the war games again had we insisted on a review. Sayang, that would have given us a chance to thumb our nose at them and tell them to go ahead. After all, our military establishment has already spoken. It said it can do without the exercises.

***

But proceed with the review or abrogation of the VFA, we must. Let us redeem ourselves before the eyes of the world as a strong-willed and self-respecting nation.

That way, we gain everybody’s respect, including the Americans’.

I guarantee it.

***

The decision of Ms. Arroyo to allocate P10 billion to beef up the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is worthy of note. It is the first step towards self-reliance which, I’m sure, everybody wants. With a beefed up military, we do not have to rely on anybody to fight and win our battles.

We can modernize our armed forces on our own with a modicum of will and determination and, of course, with no more graft and corruption.

***

There they go again!

The freaking Aussies and the Brits (American toadies both), and now the Canadians (cousins of the Americans) warning their people of terrorist threats here in our country.

I find their timing suspect – just as we are about to convene the summit meetings among Asean members and six other countries. The Brits and the Aussies also did that last month before the meetings were postponed.

As I asked in a previous column, what is their motive?

If they are so sure of an imminent threat, why couldn’t they share their intelligence information with our authorities to prevent it from happening? Or have they? If so, couldn’t they have refrained from making public pronouncements on the matter? With the shared intelligence information, our authorities could effectively thwart any threat.

What is it, really? I mean their motive. I can understand the Aussies’ apparent concern. They are participants in the meeting. (Their foreign minister is no longer attending.) But the Brits and the Canadians? What’s theirs? They don’t want us to look good? If I were the foreign secretary I would summon the respective ambassadors of the three countries and demand an explanation.

***

I believe this is one instance when we should unite behind the efforts of the concerned authorities to succeed in hosting the summit. Let us show the world that we are a people who can set aside our internal squabbles and act as one when our integrity as a nation is at stake or threatened.