The first common feature, the governor said, is the two countries’ adherence to democracy "haltingly but successfully." Second is both governments’ reliance on employment of nationals in other countries. Third is our colonial past.

It is interesting how Pakistan and the Philippines, in their own peculiar ways, are dealing with these realities.

By the way, the members of media who are here on the invitation of the Islamabad Public Research Institute include Dante Francis Ang II of the Manila Times, Natalia Diaz of Inquirer, Lyn Resurreccion of Business Mirror, Fatima Parel of People Asia and myself. Gemma Cruz representing Manila Bulletin was with us in the first part of the trip but had to skip Lahore for an important commitment in Manila.

The governor welcomed us in his elegant official residence which reminds one of stately mansions and lovely gardens in Jane Austen novels.

As governor of Punjab province, Pakistan’s second largest, Maqbool oversees a population of 86 million in area of 79,284 square miles that includes Lahore, considered the cultural and intellectual capital of the country.

The beauty of Lahore is in its being able to preserve much of the tangible elements of its splendid past. We visited Lahore Fort that existed in the 14th and 15th century which its special and public audience halls show a mechanism of leaders consultation with the people, the essence of good governance.

There’s also the magnificent Badshahi Mosque, the second largest in the world.

We witnessed the fascinating flag-lowering ceremony at the Pakistan-India border of Wagha, 12 kilometers from Lahore. This tourist attraction shows how the two countries have been able to transcend their violent history and are now responsible members of the international community resolving differences through peaceful means.

We asked the governor how Pakistan is able to nurture their deep sense of nationalism despite having been colonized by the British. We notice this in their daily attire, the shawl karees and their use of Urdu as lingua franca.

Noting the colonization of the Philippines by Spain and the United States, the governor quipped, "I don’t know who was the better colonizer."

He said their people are deeply embedded in the cultural foundation of Pakistan, but Pakistanis are quite accepting of what comes from the West while retaining religious beliefs, deep attachment to language, dress. "We think we have a multicultural identity. We have a deep sense of history but we need to be part of the world."

The governor said there are many Pakistanis working in the United Kingdom, the United States and in the Middle East and they remit to their families about $5 billion annually. (The more than 10 million Filipino overseas workers keep the Philippine government afloat with their estimated annual $10 billion remittances.)

He said their workers are mainly unskilled, although many Pakistani professionals work in other countries. He expressed admiration how the Philippines has "successfully sent trained and skilled workforce" all over the world including Pakistan.

There are about 3,000 Filipinos working in Pakistan mostly in telecommunications, hotels and hospitals. Filipino domestic helpers are beginning to be deployed. In Lahore, there are some 300 Filipinos, among them three chefs in the Chinese and Japanese restaurants of the five-star Avari hotel.

We asked Gov. Maqbool how Pakistanis regard Filipino workers.

He said Pakistan is a growing economy and needs to be competitive. If an entrepreneur invests billions of rupees to put up a hospital or a hotel, they would require people who can give sophisticated and quality service.

He said Filipino workers in Pakistan is not an issue. "Actually we should not be getting people from outside. We are 150 million people. If we are not able to train nurses and hotel people, we are not doing a good job."

"I hope that if people from the Philippines come and work in hospitals and hotels, our people also need to work hard and become sophisticated. This will be an incentive for them to work harder and come up to the required standard."

On the similarity of our political situation, a glance at Pakistan’s newspapers’ front pages supports that view. They recently had a parliamentary election that gave parties opposed to President Musharraf’s government a resounding victory. A coalition government was formed which elected Yousuf Raza Gilani as prime minister.

Newspapers report the conflicting stand of coalition members on the re-instatement of the judges purged by Musharraf last November to pre-empt legal challenges to his questionable re-election as president. The bottom line in this issue is the independence of the judiciary.

Yesterday’s headline of "The Dawn" says the impasse on the May 12 re-instatement of the judges threatens the fragile coalition.

It’s like reading about Philippine politics.