Critics on Asean: Failed PR stunt, monstrous, glitzy

MANILA, Philippines — For critics of President Duterte and his administration, the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings were just a failed public relations stunt and a “monstrous and glitzy” social gathering of photo opportunities.

But for Malacañang, the P15.46-billion budget for the country’s hosting of ASEAN events as the regional bloc’s chairman was well worth it.

“Obviously, they did not know what happened behind closed doors. I can assure you that the threat of nuclear annihilation is not a matter of pageantry. The need for peace and stability in the South China Sea is not a matter of pageantry,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters yesterday.

“And of course the issue of terrorism, the fact that terrorism knows no territorial boundaries, is no pageantry,” he said.

Reps. Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao, Gary Alejano of Magdalo, Tommy Villarin of Akbayan and Edcel Lagman of Albay said the ASEAN members tend to look the other way when it comes to human rights issues.

The United States, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the European Union and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke about the importance of human rights.

In case of the Philippines, human rights became an issue because of the alleged extrajudicial killings happening in the course of the administration’s war on drugs.

“It’s (ASEAN) contented being a rich kids’ fraternity that believes in the motto, ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,’ Baguilat said.”?Former ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia Jr. also said as chair of the ASEAN, the Philippines could have gotten the support of the bloc’s members had it raised the Philippines’ legal victory against China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea, especially since some of the members also have a stake in the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in the Netherlands.?“We never even brought up the subject of the arbitral ruling in the discussions. This was a lost opportunity to have gotten the support of ASEAN countries to get China to respect the rule of law and respect international law,” Cuisia said.

Villarin said sovereignty issues were “swept under the rug so as not to antagonize a bully in the region, China, from which we want to get an economic bonanza.”?“While it dazzled in panoramic glitz hosting world leaders, what was starkly left out was the region’s poverty, environmental crisis, border conflicts and human trafficking, human rights abuses including a genocide being committed in Rohingya and mass murder in a war against illegal drugs in Manila, the host capital,” Villarin said. 

But Roque said the critics were obviously not informed about the discussions that took place among the leaders.

Roque pointed out the human rights concerns in Rohingya were also discussed during the ASEAN summit.

He stressed the government’s hosting of the summit was a success and ended without any security breach.

“It was a tremendous success. Of course, now that all the guests are gone, (there is a) sigh of relief that there was not one untoward incident,” Roque said.

“All that could have happened was one explosion, even if no one was hurt, for us to have a major disaster on our hands,” Roque added.

He also expressed gratitude to the Filipino people for their cooperation in the implementation of strict security measures and traffic re-routing schemes.

“We averted such incidents and the world community now recognizes… that the Philippine president is not just the president of the Philippines, a leader of Southeasast Asia but a recognized leader in the international community,” he said.

“And then also given notice that the Philippines is able to competently host a meeting, a meeting of this scale and scope and the fact that there was not one untoward incident proves that the Philippines is safe to visit,” Roque said.

Roque congratulated the rest of the Filipino people for being part of the ASEAN summit success. 

At the same time, he also apologized to those who were adversely affected by the traffic re-routing schemes and road lockdowns.

“Of course there were those who were inconvenienced, especially by the closure of EDSA. We want to apologize, we earned the admiration of the world on our abilities in exchange,” Roque said.

But the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), a research and training institution for women, has criticized the Duterte administration for disrupting work and classes and overspending for the ASEAN events.

CWR said Duterte failed to keep his promise of pursuing a frugal and practical governance.

It said that in the past, Duterte consistently assailed government officials for their lavish lifestyles and for unnecessary overspending in foreign engagements. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Delon Porcalla