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MANILA, Philippines—Several members of the House of Representatives are batting for a Barack Obama victory in the United States presidential elections, and one of them expects more sympathy and better treatment for Filipinos with a Democrat at the White House.
Representative Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, said he was supporting an Obama presidency as the Democrats supported the US Senate bill giving pension benefits to Filipino soldiers who fought alongside American troops during World War II.
"Before the Democrats worked on it, the Republicans were sitting on the bill," Cuenco said in a phone interview.
The Senate passed the Philippine Veterans Equity Bill in April. However, the US congress adjourned without coming out with the final version of the legislation.
"The Democrats are more sympathetic to the Philippines... We can expect better treatment if the Democrats win," he said.
The Cebu lawmaker is closely following the polls and has been tuning in to both CNN and the Fox Network for updates on the US elections.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles personally feels Obama will make history, but is taking a neutral stand when asked who between the Democrat candidate and his rival, the Republican party's John McCain, would be best for the Philippines.
"Either one would be good for the country because the Philippines is a strategic partner of America and relations have been OK with all of their Presidents so far," Nograles said in a text message.
Obama would be the US' first African-American President should he triumph over McCain.
Representative Manuel Zamora, who chairs the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs, said he was on Team Obama, saying the more youthful candidate would be better suited to face the rigors of the US presidency in the face of a mounting global economic crisis.
"He's younger, he has the drive... When you're older, things are more difficult for you. I accept that fact," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said an Obama victory could rectify Bush's policies on human rights and could lead to the shuttering of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
The facility has allegedly been used to house illegally detained terror suspects, who are also allegedly tortured.
Ocampo also said the US' all-out war policy against terrorists might change with a new ruling party, although he was hard pressed to say whether there would be an immediate, dramatic change in how the US treatment of the Philippines.
He added that Philippine affairs did not figure strongly in the US campaigns.
Bayan Muna Party list Representative Teodoro Casiño said the Philippines might be better off with Obama who has been promising change.
Casiño, who has been critical of the US' policies along with Ocampo, said he hoped Obama would reverse Bush' tactics.
"Change hopefully includes a reversal of George W. Bush's imperialist war of terror," he said in a text message.
