It would be a fitting and happy 62nd birthday gift on April 5 for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should the three abducted Red Cross workers be released unharmed by the Abu Sayyaf after nearly 80 days of captivity and hardship.

Needless to say, this terrorist act and banditry is neither the first nor will it be the last as long as these Abu Sayyaf brigands are not decimated, and neutralized.

By the same token, the national government must distinguish between Islamist fundamentalists and Muslim secessionists, and kidnapping-for-ransom renegade Muslim splinter groups and plain bandits that misinterpret and violate the altruistic tenets of the Koran.

Be that as it may, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must savor this joyous 62nd natal day with the confident knowledge that her many feats under her belt are all on record despite the fact that these accomplishments have not been sufficiently appreciated by the general public.

Eventually, the nation will recognize these achievements, and her watch vindicated.

Nonetheless, cognizant of her dismal satisfaction ratings, this paean to her administration will displease many critics, but we opine that her many achievements will speak for themselves after the dust of suspicions, acrimony, personal hurt, envy, and hubris shall have settled down.

Thus, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s valedictory SONA in July, 2009 will be her terminal report to the nation as she bids adieu.

***

G-20 Summit in London

The twenty leading economies of the world is meeting in London’s financial district near the docks amidst stormy demonstrations outside the Bank of England, and seemingly intractable and unbridgeable disagreements inside as to how to approach the global recession; how to use the various stimulus incentives effectively; and the time line. A few believe that recovery will happen starting 2010, but not before.

In the meantime, the world economy is expected to get worse before it gets better in 2009.

For the Philippines, the Arroyo administration has been successful in gingerly avoiding from being sucked in into the vortex of recession compared to other countries whose dependence, ironically, on exports have been adversely affected.

The Philippines whose electronics industry is the pillar of our export drive is hurting which is moreover a labor-intensive industry.

As we had written previously, the Philippines was the last to recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis in spite of the fact that its fundamentals were in place at the outbreak of the Asian crisis.

This nation can ill-afford to repeat its mistakes.

When all is said and done, to paraphrase internationally-respected economist, Jeffrey Sachs, “The global economic crisis will be with us for a generation, not just a year or two, because it is a transition to sustainability….”an essential policy that developing countries should pursue in overcoming the crisis is to build infrastructure suitable for the 21st century.”

You be the judge. (For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)