PEACE-MAKER
Jose de Venecia Jr.
Former Speaker of the House
The people of Pakistan have demonstrated not only their unwavering commitment to nation building and democracy, but also their profound humanitarian spirit by welcoming and protecting millions of Afghan refugees, sharing their limited resources.
Thus, it breaks our heart to see these kindhearted people suffering enormously from the incessant flooding two months ago, which has claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people and devastated some 33 million more. Some one-third of the country remains submerged and the number of victims continue to rise.
The Pakistani government, United Nations, and other international organizations have warned of a looming health crisis in the South Asian country.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the massive deluge as “never seen climate carnage,” and denounced the lack of attention the world, especially the industrialized nations, has given to climate change.
We know that the Pakistani people will recover from the catastrophe, which some observers described as of gigantic proportion, given their indomitable spirit. It, however, behooves on the international community to support the people of Pakistan as they try to recover from the colossal difficulties, they are in. We urge the peoples and government around the world to extend compassion and solidarity with the Pakistani people in their hour of need.
On a more personal note, Pakistan has a special place in our heart as we have built friendships there in the course of our modest foray into political party — and parliamentary diplomacy for many years.
Benazir Bhutto, who served as the first woman prime minister of Pakistan and in the Muslim world, accepted our invitation to address the founding and launching of ICAPP, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, in Manila in September 2000. Our wife Gina and we were heartbroken when she was assassinated in December 2007, for she was a dear friend to us.
Her 34-year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is now the foreign minister of Pakistan and reportedly the youngest to be appointed to the post.
We first met the then 22-year-old Bilawal when he spoke at the conference of ICAPP in Nanning, China. Like his late beloved mother Benazir, Bilawal is bright, eloquent and outspoken.
Then there’s Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the brilliant geopolitical expert, who is chairman of the powerful Senate committee on defense and defense production, and earlier, the committee on foreign relations.
Senator Mushahid also serves as vice chairman and special rapporteur of our 350-member International Conference of Asian Political Parties and co-founded with us in 2006 the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, APA, which is now composed of more than 40 parliaments in Asia.
Incidentally, on our invitation as then Speaker of the House, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf addressed the joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate in April 2005, during his state visit to the Philippines.
It was also during our time as House leader that, also on our modest invitation, US President George W. Bush addressed the joint session of the Philippine Congress on October 2003; Chinese President Hu Jintao on April 2005; and Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on February 2006.
The Philippines and Pakistan established diplomatic relations on Sept. 8, 1949. Presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Fidel V. Ramos visited Pakistan in 1962 and 1997, respectively. On the other hand, Pakistani prime ministers Husseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Mohammad Khan Junejo, and Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf have visited our country.
Official Philippine data show that bilateral trade between our countries stood at US$215.95 million in 2021. In February 2022, Pakistan’s exports to the Philippines amounted to US$25.25 million and imports from the Philippines at US$3.65 million.
There are approximately 2,000 Filipinos in Pakistan, around 1,000 of whom are professional and non-professional workers. Some are married to Pakistani nationals. There are also a number of Pakistani nationals in the Philippines.