The Philippines: Champion of democracy in ASEAN

Posted on November 21, 2007
Filed Under Burma news |

Like many countries in Asia, the Philippines has not found the road to democracy to be a particularly smooth one. But, comments by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the ASEAN summit in Singapore about Burma show the country is emerging as the democratic conscious of ASEAN.

Domestic politics in the Philippines is a chaotic business, with the country still bearing the scars of dictatorship. During the time I spent there, I met people whose families had suffered under the rule of Ferdinand Marcos and others that prospered from his regime.

Ever since Marcos fled into exile in 1986, the country has had a succession of president, who have had to contend with suggestions of wrongdoings and a lack of trust among the public.

During her time in office, Arroyo herself has been hounded by allegations of corruption and election rigging. Allegations that have forced her administration to suppress several attempted coups.

Arroyo issues warning to junta

However, on Monday at a dinner for leaders attending the ASEAN summit, Arroyo became the first leader in the ten nation grouping to break ASEAN’s code of silence over Burma.

She warned that unless the junta frees Aung San Suu Kyi and moves forward with democratic reforms, the Philippine congress was unlikely to ratify the ASEAN charter. A move that would leave the charter, that creates a rules based legal entity for ASEAN, dead in the water.

She said: “The expectation of The Philippines is that if Myanmar signs the charter, it is committed to returning to the path of democracy and releasing Aung San Suu Kyi.”

“Until the Philippines Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the ASEAN charter.” The charter needs to be ratified by all ten member countries, before it can come into effect.

Even before Arroyo’s comments, Burma was in danger of overshadowing the summit, which had been intended as a celebration of regional unity, culminating in the signing of the charter. Earlier, hosts Singapore had been forced to cancel a briefing by the UN’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari after objections from the junta.