Magic 10 – ASEAN

What a long “holiday” weekend it was for Metro Manila. When Malacañang declared April 28 as a “special non-working” holiday for the 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, everyone started planning weekend escapades. Not to mention today, May 1 as a Labor Day holiday as well.

“To stay” or “Not to stay” in Manila this was the question. Staying in Manila would mean limited places to go to due to traffic. Going out of town would mean dealing with traffic going out of SLEX or NLEX and being locked in a 2-hour traffic jam on our way back. The best solution was probably to stay in the comforts of your home, save money and bond with family and friends. But how I wish we wouldn’t be kept in this fishbowl kind of life for many years, all due to the worsening traffic situation. We need to enjoy the countryside too, and escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.

So, while we were all on our “selfie” mode, the 10 ASEAN leaders were busy with their teams trying to plan a better future for Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), with dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Russia. By the way, nine leaders were present except for President Htin Kyaw from Myanmar who sent his representative, Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

The summit had six thematic priorities: peace and stability, maritime security and cooperation, inclusive and innovation-led growth, as well as concepts of resiliency, people-oriented and people-centered and model of regionalism and global player.

Well, before we get too excited over pending issues and those allegedly to be avoided, let’s see how all Southeast Asian nations level themselves out in terms of leadership, population, national development and economic growth.

Leaders: Brunei’s Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29th current sultan and first incumbent prime minister (since 1967 or for 50 years and is the wealthiest monarch in the world); Malaysia’s Najib Razak is the 6th prime minister (since 2009 or for 8 years); Cambodia’s Hun Sen is the 34th prime minister (since 1985 to 1993; re-assumed 1998 to present or for 27 years); Indonesia’s Joko Widodo is the 7th president (since 2014 or for 3 years); Thailand’s Prayut Chan-o-cha is the 29th prime minister (since 2014); Singapore’s Tony Tan Keng Yam is the 7th President (since 2011 or for 6 years); Laos’ Bounnhang Vorachith is the 6th president (since 2016); Myanmar’s Htin Kyaw is the 9th president (since 2016); Vietnam’s Tran Dai Quang is the 9th president (since 2016); Philippine’s Rodrigo Duterte is the 16th president (since 2016).

Population: Indonesia 262,975,142 (4th largest population in the world); Philippines 103,511,899 (13th largest population in the world); Vietnam 95,237,763 (14th largest population in the world); Thailand 68,270,531 (0.91% of total world population); Myanmar 54,750,563 (0.73% of total world population); Malaysia 31 million (0.41% of total world population); Cambodia 16 million (0.21% of total world population); Singapore 5,768,309 (0.08% in total world population); Laos 7 million (0.09% of total world population); Brunei 433,463 (0.01% of the total world population).

Independence: The oldest country in the ASEAN is Thailand. The youngest is Brunei. Thailand is 779 years old, it was founded in 1238 (Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation that was not invaded by foreign rulers); Indonesia is 72 years old, it gained independence from the Dutch government in 1945; Vietnam is 72 years old, received its independence from France in 1945; Philippines is 71 years old, it achieved full independence from America in 1946; Myanmar is 69 years old, became an independent from the British rule in 1948; Cambodia is 64 years old, it received full independence from France in 1953; Laos is 63 years old, it gained independence from France in 1954; Malaysia is 60 years old, gained independence from the British Empire in 1957; Singapore is 52 years old, it became a sovereign nation in 1965; Brunei is 33 years old, it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.

Gross Domestic Product (2015) will give us an idea of each country’s capacity to produce goods and services: Indonesia was worth $861.93 billion; Thailand was $395.17 billion; Malaysia was worth $296.3 billion; Singapore was $292.74 billion; Philippines GDP was worth $ 292.45 billion; Vietnam was $193.6 billion; Myanmar was worth $62.6 billion; Cambodia was $18.05 billion; Brunei was worth $12.9 billion; Laos was $12.3 billion.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in his keynote address at the Prosperity for All Summit 2017 cited that between 1975 and 2014, the ASEAN economy multiplied 28 times, from US$87.2 billion to US$2.5 trillion. By November 2015 (when Malaysia chaired the ASEAN Summit), ASEAN was looking at an economy closed to US$2.7 trillion, the seventh largest in the world. Recent estimates show that taken as one the ASEAN would now represent the sixth largest economy in the world.

Razak continued by saying that ASEAN economies are growing faster than most of the rest of the world, and it is expected that by 2050 the ASEAN economy will amount to over US$9.2 trillion, making it the fourth largest in the world.

Looking at all these facts and figures, you will realize how young and vibrant Southeast Asia is. But ASEAN countries should learn to look beyond the tribal level and build stronger ties amongst neighbors. As the Malaysian Prime Minister said: ASEAN must be seen as a source of cohesion, solidarity, support, unity, friendship and strength and of course greater prosperity. Only when we realize this can we move forward and think of the ASEAN bloc as a strong force to protect the whole region, its territories, its culture, heritage and economies.

The question now is, were the ASEAN leaders able to achieve their goals and find the solutions to the region’s lingering problems? Drugs, terrorism, poverty, not to mention China! The Magic 10 signed various declarations and documents and released joint statements: (1) criticizing North Korea’s nuclear weapon tests and ballistic missile launches; (2) the Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2015 (to increase accountability and transparency); (3) acknowledgment of “the improvement of bilateral relations between some ASEAN member states and China.” Clearly, the most pending issue of the day was not discussed – the position and action of ASEAN on the arbitral ruling, land reclamation and militarization in South China Sea. Sanamagan!

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Labor Day: On the first Labor Day gathering at the Cine Oriente, C.M. Recto Street, Manila in 1913, Filipino workers and labor leaders convened to call for better pay, better working conditions. Today, we continue to call for justice for workers’ wages and protection on deaf ears.

Let’s see what President Duterte’s surprise is for the 24 million laborers today. Let me tell you Sir, nothing will beat a good tax reform cut. Believe me!