MIRIAM SUMMONS “300 SPARTANS” FOR ASEAN CHARTER CONCURRENCE
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, urged her colleagues yesterday to concur with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Charter.“Just like the 300 Spartans of King Leonidas who battled thousands of Persians in 480 BC, ASEAN could similarly form a phalanx vis-a-vis the rampaging onslaught of the dark side of globalization, and reap the dividends from it—freedom, peace, stability, and economic progress,” Santiago said in her speech in the Senate.
According to Santiago, the Philippines will benefit from ASEAN Charter’s concurrence because the Charter encourages increased trade and investment and binds ASEAN states to implement all ASEAN decisions and agreements in a timely manner.
“This means agreements such as the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers and its subsequent agreements would have to be enforced,” she said.
The Charter also creates the ASEAN Human Rights Body that seeks to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in the region, and aims to contribute to the world a regional perspective on human rights.Santiago also emphasized the benefits of the ASEAN Charter in the maintenance of peace and order, and the promotion of democracy, good governance, and the rule of law in the region. As the ASEAN Charter streamlines its organizational structure, it maintains the inter-governmental nature of cooperation among its members and provides for a more systematic in the settlement of disputes between its members.
“The ASEAN needs to transform itself from a loosely-organized regional body into a more rules-based grouping with a legal personality of its own,” she said.