The visit.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Noralyn Mustafa

NOW what is she up to this time?

We first learned about it in a television newscast that was, as broadcast news go, too brief to satisfy our need to know the why and wherefore of it, but the following day, there it was in the Inquirer, important enough, as indeed it was, to merit the top space in the Second Front Page with a headline of appropriate point value to catch any reader's attention: "Votes for freedom deal bared." (PDI, 2/23/04)

But more attention-getting was the accompanying photo. There they were-left to right, Speaker Jose de Venecia, jailed former ARMM Gov. Nur Misuari and newly appointed national security adviser Norberto Gonzales, each trying to out-grin the Cheshire cat, with hands clasped one on top of the other, in rather crude imitation of the Three Musketeers. It was pretty obvious that the deal was so satisfactory to all concerned it had to be sealed with the vow of "one for all; all for one!" or something to that effect.

But at whose expense?

According to the story, "President Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly offered jailed former Moro National Liberation Front chair Nur Misuari his freedom in exchange for the influential Muslim leader's support in the May elections," naming Ms Macapagal's "political strategist" Norberto Gonzales as the source of the information, and Nashreen Pangadapun, a member of Maradeka, as source of the news.