Tricia Aquino, Manila – The Philippines should use its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year to accelerate the membership of East Timor in the 10-member regional bloc.
This is according to M.C. Abad, Jr., the former director of the ASEAN Regional Forum, housed in the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Abad was one of the speakers at the Mangrove Forum on International Relations on Tuesday at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. In the forum, the DFA's Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo gave an overview of the priorities on the agenda of Manila's chairmanship of the regional bloc in 2017.
Abad noted that the Philippines had stood with East Timor in its struggle for independence from Indonesia, which East Timor finally gained in May 2002.
In fact, the Philippines' solidarity with East Timor had even caused a "ripple" in diplomatic relations with Indonesia, Abad recalled.
He was referring to the dilemma faced by the Ramos administration in 1994, when private groups and Philippine-led NGOs convened the international congress on the East Timor issue at the University of the Philippines, even though then-President Fidel V. Ramos stood solidly with the Indonesian government – a close ally of the Philippines in ASEAN – and imposed an official ban on the entry of foreign delegates.
The Manila conference was the first time the international community took note of East Timor's plight 24 years since it was annexed by Indonesia.
In the late 1990s, Philippine religious congregations and volunteer groups based in East Timor also helped provide sanctuary to thousands of East Timorese when Indonesian militiamen went on a rampage and started attacking them.
Then Philippine President Joseph Estrada was among the first to call on the United Nations to send peacekeepers to East Timor, to prevent the slaughter of civilians as the drive towards independence moved faster.
According to the BBC, East Timor applied to join the ASEAN in March 2011. Six years later, it remains the only country in Southeast Asia that is still not part of the ASEAN.
As "a democratic country in transition", East Timor deserves support, Abad said. The longer its membership is delayed, the more difficult it will be for the country to catch up with the rest of Southeast Asia, where some ASEAN members have in fact tried to rev up their economies to keep pace with the bloc's march to integration.
Abad added that the Philippines will earn recognition should it pave the way for East Timor's membership in the ASEAN as it chairs the organization's 50th year.
South China Sea
Abad also suggested that the Philippines pursue more international dialogues on the South China Sea as a way to prevent disputes from escalating into armed confrontation.
He recommended that the Philippines bring up confidence-building measures that the ASEAN had undertaken with China even in decades past. It is important to demonstrate "sincerity and intention" in dealing with the disputes over the South China Sea, he stressed.
As ASEAN looks to the future, Abad advised the organization to take note of a study that says that the greatest achievement of ASEAN has been the preservation of peace. This will dictate the direction of the member-states.
Economic and social developments in these countries can only be achieved in an environment of peace, Abad said. Therefore it is necessary to be committed to "pacific settlement of disputes".
No failed states
Each member-state should also contribute to the stability of the region, as "failed or weak states" affect not just a country's citizens, but its neighbors too if it becomes a transit point for terrorists, drug traffickers, international criminal networks, or even transnational environmental hazards.
In closing, he noted that the Philippines must take care of itself. It will only be valuable to the ASEAN network if it is a contributor, rather than a burden.
"We should have a means to help ourselves and others. We should not be distracted from building our national economy in the years ahead," Abad said. "We lead (or live) for ourselves and for others."