The Philippines and ASEAN: A unique Opportunity

On 8 August we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – better known simply as ASEAN. In the longer view of history, its survival may take those with old enough by surprise. Earlier attempts to form regional groups such as the Association of Southeast Asia and MAPHILINDO had faltered.

But having survived is not the only success of ASEAN. Its central legacy is peace among its members but perhaps ASEAN is a victim of its own success. We take the peace among us for granted, in the 1960s this was far from certain. The Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia was fresh, the potential for conflict between the Philippines and Malaysia over Sabah was there, Singapore and Malaysia had split. Our neighborhood could have been one of constant conflict and war, instead we have largely had peace – thanks to the wisdom of ASEAN’s founders.

Central to ASEAN’s purpose was to ‘accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors.

The Philippines is fortunate to play the role of ASEAN chair during its Golden Anniversary with Duterte as its leader.  It gives us a chance not only to evaluate and celebrate past achievements but also to look ahead. If ASEAN plays its cards right, it can play the pivotal role in the Asian Century, or be footnote in history.

The ASEAN region has a large population and top 10 economy but does it have the ability to act in a concerted fashion? There are crucial challenges that face us – climate change, terrorism, and the open economic system.

The Asian Century is off to a rocky start but ASEAN can play a fundamental role in forging lasting solutions to these problems. The term ‘Asian Century’ has been used to describe the re-emergence of Asia as the world’s epicenter of political, economic and socio-cultural activities. This is comparable to Europe emerging out of the Dark Ages, ‘Asians are rediscovering their own past and deriving inspiration from it for the future,’ as George Yeo, a former foreign minister of Singapore, described it.

As we have seen from recent election campaigns across the world and here there has been a sense of dissatisfaction with the way in which globalization and integration has impacted people’s lives. This is in spite of the fact that hundreds of millions have been lifted out of poverty through integration – just look at the success that China has had with opening its economy.

The question is what will become of this system? It needs reform there is no doubt. Inequality has been rising and many feel that they are not benefiting. The trouble is that closing economies will not make lives better – not an Asian Renaissance but a new dark age. In their foresight ASEAN’s founders have an answer for us that “that the Association represents the collective will of the nations of South-East Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity.” More recent ASEAN agreements continue to focus on a people-centered ASEAN. This must be made real if ASEAN must take if it is to be pivotal to the Asian Century.

As the nations of the region have democratized, there have been increasing calls for accountability. ASEAN has already launched an ASEAN Economic Community, more needs to be done to make this a reality. We can already travel without visas to each other’s countries. Is there a need for a way to facilitate the movement of workers?  The idea behind the AEC is that together the ten members would have more economic bargaining power on the world stage if they were to form a single market and production base especially as the rest of Asia is becoming more attractive for investment and economic opportunities. Beyond ASEAN itself, we also have the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This aims to bring together the markets of ASEAN with our other regional partners. It can serve as a model for the rest of world on how to ensure that integration is indeed people centric.

Too much of our business and trade is between the increasingly rich urban centers like Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur but it leaves rural communities behind. We need to connect our rural areas better to the markets and improve productivity. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide more funding for such projects. But these projects need to be commercially viable and sustainable. No repeats of the failed Westinghouse Bataan Nuclear Plant that had been the single biggest debt of our nation for decades.

The success of the AEC will determine whether ASEAN will be able to share the fruits of the Asian Century with other more powerful nations. Progress towards this goal has been satisfactory, but a lot more must be done.

Such initiatives require support but this requires individuals to feel a part of it – in short an ASEAN identity. It’s impossible to imagine a successful AEC if the leaders of ASEAN convey a message that of a single community of nations, but the citizens don’t feel that way.

Ultimately, ASEAN is on the right trajectory toward enjoying a prosperous future in the ‘Asian Century.’  But ASEAN so far been limited to the political bureaucratic domains. In the decades following independence all ASEAN members have worked on nation-building, defining and redefining what it means to be a citizen of our respective nations, in our case ‘Filipino.’

But we also have rich shared histories in our region. Consider for example the Laguna Copperplates at the National Museum, written in Old Malay, or the origins of the word Visayas from Sri Vijaya. As we seek to build a community, I hope that historians can do more work on how we had been pre-colonialization and infuse a sense of solidarity and shared pasts.

Marawi and decades to find a solution to secessionist movements in Philippines require a broader effort to integrate our Moro brothers and sisters into the mainstream. Understanding their role in our past and how they help to connect us to our neighbors is critical. We must make efforts to integrate their story into our national narrative, a narrative and culture that we should be proud of and call our own.