Over the past week, two visitors from the Philippines have been guests in New Zealand. One of them, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, was welcomed into the country by the Government. The other, Dennis Maga, a leading trade union and human rights activist in the Philippines, was welcomed here by a number of trade unions, including my own, and other progressive groups.

Arroyo was feted at a State luncheon with our prime minister. Her fellow countryman, Maga, spoiled it all by imprisoning himself in a cage on the steps of Parliament. Maga's aim was to draw our attention to the fact that while they were nibbling on New Zealand's finest foods, Arroyo's political opponents who hadn't already been murdered were languishing in prisons without being convicted of any crime.

Helen Clark and Arroyo then popped off to Waitangi to meet other international guests to chat about religious good deeds. The purpose was to discuss how religion could be used for good, rather than as a vehicle for fanatics and opportunists to kill people they didn't like.

Of course, the irony of their guest heading up a murderous regime at the Inter-Faith Dialogue organised by our Government had obviously missed their attention. Since Arroyo came to power six years ago, almost 900 political killings - three a week - have taken place, according to reputable human rights groups. This is on top of a similar number who have disappeared or been kidnapped and who are presumed to be dead.

Terrorism's best recruits are from the urban poor in countries like the Philippines. Yet 130 members of a political party that lawfully organises the urban poor to fight for their rights have been murdered.

And it's getting worse. In last month's election alone, 126 people, including candidates and ballot scrutineers, were killed. One political leader was abducted, and another narrowly escaped a similar fate. Ballot scrutineers claim thousands of votes for opposition parties were discarded, and in numerous cases they were forced to register non-existent votes for candidates allied with Arroyo.

Maybe someone could have pointed out at the Inter-Faith Dialogue that the number of victims in one of the guest's countries far surpassed the region's casualties from terrorism. Maybe a little less prayer and more soul-searching might have been a better use of time.

I suppose it's easier for our Government and media to focus on the antics of protesters outside the Waitangi Marae than to expose Arroyo or the hypocrisy of hosting her. There is no doubt in my mind that if Jesus were alive today, he'd be with the protesters outside the marae, and I mean the real protest with Maga, not the grandstanding by Destiny's Brian Tamaki that the media focused on.