Typhoon Frank is a PR nightmare for Gloria Arroyo.

She, together with several of her cabinet officers and congressional members went to the United States for a scheduled meeting with US President George W. Bush, plus the usual woo-the-investors and meet-Fiipino-community gabs. Unfortunately, on the eve of her departure, Frank was threatening the country. On the first part of her trip, Frank has already ravaged some parts of the Visayas – Iloilo, for example.

Many people have criticized the regime for the handling of the disaster. Everything went into a mini-frenzy with the MV Princess of the Stars incident, and the outcry over the regime’s action (or inaction) grew. The call for her and her entourage to cut short her trip intensified.

Gloria was in a bind. Should she go home, and see all the goodwill-building meetings go to waste? Or should she stay behind and appear not to care?

Her officials’ handling of the disaster, and their pronouncements, was a disaster in itself.

Just look at Jesus Dureza. He is fast proving to be better than his predecessor Toting Bunye – he can speak/lie with a straight face. The President is very hands-on, he said. Hands-on via teleconference. Yeah, we saw how that went.

That teleconference was another. Desperate to prove that she was doing her job, her publicists opened a teleconference to the media, and it was a disaster. The media had to be shown the door before the fiasco grows.

Here’s what I think. She should hire a good PR agency in the Philippines.

Seriously, she should have went home. GMA cares, remember?

This is a DigitalFilipino.com Club sponsored post.