16 senators vote for ratification of Asean charter
Aurea Calica
Philippine Star
The Senate ratified the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) yesterday.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. rejected the Charter on grounds that military-ruled Myanmar refuses to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sixteen senators vzoted for the ratification of the Charter: Manuel Villar Jr., Jinggoy Estrada, Francis Pangilinan, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile, Benigno Aquino III, Manuel Roxas II, Jamby Madrigal, Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Joker Arroyo, Pia Cayetano, Ramon Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid, Gregorio Honasan and Richard Gordon.
Five were absent: Panfilo Lacson, Rodolfo Biazon, Alan Peter Cayetano, Edgardo Angara and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is imprisoned at Camp Crame in Quezon City, while Alfredo Lim is now the mayor of Manila.
Pimentel said he could not see how the Charter, even with the establishment of a human rights commission, could force Myanmar to democratize and recognize the rights of its people.
“The (human rights commission) would be a sham and hypocrisy on the part of Myanmar, it will not mean anything to them,” he said.
“That is why I do not wish it said that ASEAN is just closing its eyes to the atrocities of the ruling junta against its own people and in effect, we are legitimizing them in the eyes of the world.”
The Senate committee on foreign relations chaired by Santiago recommended the ratification of the Charter.
Santiago said the ASEAN Charter will speak out on humanitarian or self-defense events, such as the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“We wish it were a more perfect document, but because of the variated cultures of our region, it is very difficult to get a consensus on a document that will govern with legal force the affairs of these member governments. That’s the best we could do at this moment,” she said.
Santiago said the ASEAN Human Rights Body would enable ASEAN to stop depending on foreign human rights monitors.
“The Charter also enshrines the
so-called ASEAN way of settling differences, meaning consultation and consensus,” she said.
“This is the basic decision-making principle in ASEAN. If all 10 member-states ratify the Charter by December, it will enter into force in 2009.
“Thus, ASEAN will ratify its constitution even ahead of the European Union, whose charter was rejected by two countries.”
Of the 10 ASEAN members, seven have already ratified the Charter, with the Philippines being the eighth.
Indonesia and Thailand are still in the process of ratification.
ASEAN comprises the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
It was the Philippines that first proposed the ASEAN Charter in the 1970s.
The ASEAN Charter is a treaty and therefore becomes binding on the Philippines after the Senate ratifies it, Santiago said.
No Comments, Comment or Ping
Reply to “16 senators vote for ratification of Asean charter”