There’s something about the slap-dash nature of the Palace propaganda corps that bugs me. Take the caption for this official photo:
Official caption: US-RP AGRI ACCORD–Washington DC.–President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo watches approvingly as Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap shakes hands with US Agriculture Secretary Edward Schaefer after the two signed a Framework of Agreement and Cooperation on Agricultural-Related Fields between RP Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture this afternoon (Washington time) at the Federal Suite of the “Willard Hotel in Washington DC. Also in photo is Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo (2nd from left).
Well what’s wrong with it? First of all, it’s Schefer, not Schaefer; and while I think the simpler explanation for the gobbledygook in the caption above -what is a “Framework of Agreement and Cooperation on Agricultural-Related Fields”- is that the caption writer was clueless when it came to what was being signed or its relative importance, there’s also the possibility the whole photo-op will be less milk-able if the public actually knew what the two cabinet members had just signed.
The Americans are less opaque about these things though, than we are. So, see the US Department of Agriculture’s own press release:
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today signed a memorandum of agreement with Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap to promote agricultural trade and investment between the two countries. The objective is to advance agricultural cooperation, productivity and sustainable natural resource management through science and technology collaboration. In addition to the memorandum, USDA will sponsor a trade and investment mission to the Philippines sometime in the fall…
…The Philippines is a key market in Southeast Asia for U.S. agricultural exports, with sales reaching over $950 million in fiscal year 2007, the highest level ever. The United States remains the top food and beverage supplier to the Philippines. At the same time, the United States is the number one market for Filipino agricultural products, with sales for more than $621 million in fiscal year 2007, including coconut oil, tropical fruits and vegetables and sugar.
The Philippines is the first Asian country to approve the planting of a biotechnology food crop—corn—and remains a consistent supporter of rational, science-based regulations in many international bodies. The Philippines remain on schedule to commercialize genetically engineered, insect-resistant eggplant in 2009 and virus-resistant papaya and nutritionally-enhanced rice soon thereafter.
So they committed to maintaining a healthy market for American exports, and putting together a junket for American agriculturists close to the election, and most of all, to pursuing the export and use of genetically-modified corn, eggplants, papaya and then rice. I’m sure the environmentalists will find this agreement something to chew on.
