SHOWDOWN FIZZLES: It turned out that Vice President Teofisto Guingona is not ready to lose his job as secretary of foreign affairs. Catching himself on time, he decided yesterday to keep the premier Cabinet post and, at least for the moment, stick it out with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

For three suspenseful days, Guingona was made to appear by some of his press confidantes as poised to resign over his policy differences with the President on the issue of US forces being deployed in Abu Sayyaf country.

Emerging from the foreign policy council meeting in Malacañang yesterday, Guingona sought to dispel talk of a policy rift. He affirmed that he was after all supporting the President in allowing US troops to join Filipino soldiers chasing the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the forested mountains of Basilan.

From where we sit, Guingona appeared to have been unwittingly used by some press sectors to piece together stories reeking with their bias against American military presence and their fear of GMA’s possibly boosting her political stock by licking the Abu Sayyaf problem.

* * *

TITO USED BY MEDIA?: Guingona was confronted with a simple black-and-white matter. He should not stay one minute longer in the Cabinet if he could not toe the line. If he decides to stay, as he did, he has no choice but to support policy set by the President.

What complicated his predicament was his confiding his “agonizing” to some of his alleged friends in media who exploited the apparent conflict between the country’s top two officials. They went to town with stories of a supposedly impending showdown and Guingona’s alleged “threat” to resign.

Good for him, Guingona woke up in time to catch the drift of stories that were generally bad for him but good for media business.

What was the Vice President up to in the first place? The sluggish Guingona is too old to run for vice president in 2004. If he has in mind trying to return to the Senate, the issue over American military presence is too wobbly an excuse to cut clean from GMA this early.

* * *

WRONG SIDE OF THE DEBATE: Despite the egging on by his media friends, Guingona may have realized soon enough that he was on the wrong side of the policy debate. By all indications, President Arroyo has widespread popular support on the issue.

What’s more, none of the legal objections raised so far looked solid enough to derail the RP-US joint military exercise being used as vehicle for the coming in of US Special Forces.

The Vice President may have noticed also that while he was reportedly “agonizing,” some smart hardcore opposition senators have started singing hosannas to GMA’s opening the door to American troops joining the anti-terrorism campaign.

Had he persisted on sulking, Guingona may have had to explain his real motives since his being the Vice President placed him in the direct line of succession in case GMA’s allowing foreign troops in a live battle scene leads to her impeachment.

Incidentally, it was GMA who nominated then senator Guingona to fill the No. 2 post that she vacated upon becoming the president in January last year. This “biting the hand…” may not sit well with some sectors.

* * *

MAGKANO BA?: Another question likely to crop up one of these days is “What do we get in return for allowing US forces to make Abu Sayyaf terrorists guinea pigs and Basilan their field laboratory?”

Asking this dollars-and-cents question at this time may seem improper or too materialistic to some of our more squeamish compatriots, but there is no real difference between asking it now or later, between looking at the price tag or pretending not to see it.

Note that Pakistan was able to get, among other things, a write-off of $30 billion of its US foreign loans when it consented to the use of its land and air space to support American military operations in neighboring Afghanistan.

The figure we’ve seen in the case of the Philippines is $100 million representing military aid and materiel for upgrading the capability of our armed forces. Whether it’s fair compensation is a matter of opinion.

* * *

U.S. DOING US A FAVOR: But why are we talking of compensation? Isn’t it that GMA’s line is that we’ve been fighting anti-terrorism even before the Sept. 11 attacks on the US? Did we not rush to the side of a bleeding America when President George W. Bush sounded a call to arms?

Seen from this angle, the US could very well consider itself actually doing us a favor by coming over to help us fight local terrorists. In this light, the $100 million might even look excessive.

We have not lost sight of the fact, however, that the US is interested in crushing the Abu Sayyaf because two of the remaining hostages are Americans. Besides, it has been confirmed that the terrorist group has been maintaining links to the al-Qaida network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.

The modern materiel being brought in by the Americans, including high-tech gear for night combat, is part of the hardware promised by President Bush when GMA called on him at the White House last November. We were told that much of it would be left behind for our armed forces when the Americans pull out months from now.

One positive thing about the war on Basilan is that the delivery of US military aid may have been fast-tracked because of the urgency of rescuing the hostages and Bush’s burning desire to avenge the death of thousands of Americans caught in the Sept. 11 attacks.

* * *

COVERAGE BAN HIT: President Arroyo has banned media coverage of her sorties to depressed areas, presumably to obviate accusations of hypocrisy and the use of the poor as propaganda props.

While we agree that some of those sorties to the slums and the enclaves of the urban poor looked contrived, we have to protest the ban.

The President and the presidency are too important media items to keep away from taxpayers. The people have a right to know what their President is doing. All her activities should be covered.

What the President can do is tell the government media regularly covering her not to alert private media of her outings and not to give out any information or coverage materials to print and broadcast media.

Now if enterprising newspapers and radio-TV stations smell her activities and show up unannounced to cover her, such coverage should be allowed.