Former Cabinet members share their views on ASEAN

Today, I would like to focus on two former officials’ remarks at the “ASEAN @50: The Way Forward conference (Aug. 3-4): former finance secretary Jose Isidro Camacho and former DFA secretary Albert del Rosario. Both were outstanding in fulfilling the duties of their respective portfolios and have earned respect not only here, but also internationally. Both have an admirable grasp of today’s new world order and a patriotic desire to pursue the Philippine cause.

In their remarks before an audience of diplomats, businessmen, academe and media, both extolled the remarkable achievements of ASEAN over the past 50 years, the most important being keeping peace and stability in the region among nations with vastly different ethnicity, culture, religion, governance and historical antecedents. Yet they say ASEAN has a long way to go before it can become a real community, even while it faces new challenges to their centrality and unity. You can review their complete set of remarks on the internet: https://www.romulofoundation.org/asean-at-fifty. I will discuss only the salient points of their remarks.

Lito Camacho focused on the economic challenges that ASEAN faces: 1) A retreat from globalization towards populist tendencies arising from “angry societies reversing many of the conventional solutions of the past.” And, 2) How to deal with the emergence of China as a “super economic power.”

He posed the question of how ASEAN could capitalize on these trends and insulate itself from unfavorable global developments and benefit from the emergence of China?

A stronger, more integrated ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) should be the proper response says Camacho. Yet to date, ASEAN has fallen short despite their achieving zero duty on most products traded:

1. Many non-tariff barriers remain and limited gains have been made on trade facilitation thus negating the tariff-free benefits.

2. Except for the adoption of “open skies” in most ASEAN economies, little has been accomplished to remove barriers to services, trade and investments contrary to the goal they established to provide unimpeded provision of services in air transport, healthcare, tourism and logistics across ASEAN.

3. On capital: Finance ministers agreed in 2009 on a roadmap towards mutual recognition of market professionals, harmonized capital markets, consistent tax regimes among others, but to date very little has been accomplished.

4. On investments: Ideally national treatment should be provided with exceptions but no progress and in some instances of reversal of policies.

5. On the movement of skilled labor: In reality there are more restrictions on foreign labor.

On how to get there, former secretary Camacho said it must start with a renewed commitment by the political leaders to the ASEAN community and its work plans. They can reinforce this by making ASEAN centrality more important over bilateral relations, whether it is the United States or China. ASEAN governance must give way to a more rules-based framework since the ASEAN Charter lacks teeth on non-compliance. He further cited the need for heightened visibility of ASEAN.

Camacho concluded that “it is about time that each member country commit to adopt the concept of an ASEAN citizenship that will have a favored status in our respective jurisdictions”….“ASEAN can either be one of the main players in the emerging Asian century or it can be a footnote in the Century of China and India. The choice is ours.”

Ambassador del Rosario warned about the political consequences of financial relationships. He expressed concern that there is little to separate our political disagreements with China and any financial relationship. “By entering into weighty financial agreements, we may end up not only tying our own hands, but also the hands of the next generation. We cannot trade away our sovereignty or sovereign rights and we should not even give the impression that we are willing to do so. This should be an even more important consideration for our region, which borders what may become the world’s largest power.”

He expressed concern that ASEAN is adrift, explained in part because of the importance given to our economic ties with China. “I am concerned that this fact has translated into fear – a fear that stops us from standing up on important issues in case of economic retaliation.”

The security situation underlines the importance of mitigating the tensions caused by external powers. ASEAN can do this by maintaining principled neutrality, by opposing the island-building and militarization of the South China Sea and by finding common ground in the economic, social and cultural fields to soften the sharpness of political and strategic rivalry.”

Referring to the Hague arbitral decision Ambassador del Rosario states: “The Philippines’ case should be an integral part of a binding Code of Conduct. Our region cannot promote the rule of law while ignoring the law as it stands.”

Elaborating further on principled neutrality, he said ASEAN should stress it is “nobody’s backyard or exclusive preserve”. He warned that failure to do so would severely narrow ASEAN’s options and make it over-dependent on a single player. “We need to continue to engage external powers – China, the United States, Japan, India, Europe, Australia – in the project for ASEAN’s continued peace and prosperity.”

He said ASEAN should encourage rival powers “to engage each other so as to reduce mutual suspicion and to contain their rival ambitions in our region”. And that ASEAN must discourage them from causing disunity;” for ASEAN to have centrality, it must have solidarity.”

He also cited the outmoded governance system referring to the consensus approach. “The consensus system empowers the few over the many and contributes to why ASEAN is adrift….Are we ready to hand over sovereignty and sovereign rights to a tyranny of the minority.”

The common thread in their remarks seem to be the challenge of reinforcing ASEAN’s Centrality in the face of China’s economic clout.

DTI efficiency

My driver delivered my letter to Secretary Ramon Lopez last Wednesday, Aug. 23. Two hours later, he personally answered me by email. Impressive and which all government should emulate!!!