APEC to deny safe haven to corrupt

BUSAN, South Korea (via PLDT) — Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member-economies have agreed on several initiatives against corruption, including regional cooperation to deny safe haven to individuals guilty of corruption and to recover ill-gotten assets.

Following the 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting held here ahead of the two-day Leaders’ Summit that begins today, the ministers vowed not to allow anti-corruption measures to be dropped from the APEC agenda.

The ministers believe that corruption undermines economic performance, hampers free trade and weakens democratic institutions.

The APEC members also welcomed the establishment of the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Expert Task Force (ACT) as well as the APEC Business Leaders’ anti-corruption commitment scheduled during the APEC CEO summit.

"APEC’s goal of economic prosperity could not be achieved unless corruption, both in our domestic economies and international business transactions, is effectively addressed and significantly reduced," the ministers said.

They added that corruption is one of the biggest barriers to open and free trade and to fast economic development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo arrived here yesterday to attend the Leaders’ Summit, accompanied, among other officials, by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Merceditas Gutierrez, who is scheduled to meet with her counterparts and share the Philippine experience in the effort.

Gutierrez is reportedly going to be appointed as the next Ombudsman by the President.

Trade Undersecretary Edcel Custodio said APEC members are committed to closer regional cooperation in various anti-corruption efforts including denying sanctuary to officials and individuals guilty of corruption, providing mutual legal assistance, extradition, recovering assets, and forfeiture of proceeds of corruption.

The APEC ministers also pushed for information exchange among members and capacity building on anti-corruption efforts.

Before she left the Philippines, Mrs. Arroyo said that her agenda for the summit is topped by terrorism, a possible bird flu pandemic and the war on poverty.

"I will be focusing particularly on three key areas of concern and relevance to the Philippines: cooperation on anti-terrorism, cooperation on preparation for the avian flu and investments in our pro-poor program here in the Philippines," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement.

While the President is away, Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga and Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon said the military and police were placed on heightened alert.

The Philippines, which heads the APEC task force on terrorism, will continue to fight the scourge by sharing intelligence with allies, getting training for its troops and engaging in regional cooperation, Mrs. Arroyo said.

"We should never stop our vigilance," she said. "Like what was shown in the bombings in Bali and Jordan recently, no place is safe from the reach of these terrorist extremists, and I am doing everything in my power to protect our nation at home and abroad."

Mrs. Arroyo also said she will reiterate the Philippines’ proposal to the United Nations for a large-scale conversion of debt to be used to finance UN goals to reduce extreme global poverty by half, ensure universal primary education and stem the AIDS pandemic by 2015.

She said she also plans to discuss the importance of having enough affordable medicines against bird flu as well as encouraging wide-ranging cooperation to halt its spread.

She vowed to use portions of the government’s P37-billion savings on debt service to strengthen the country’s defense against bird flu.

"I will be calling on Congress to provide additional funding to fully prepare the nation for a bird flu outbreak," she said.

The government has already allotted P112 million for the Bird Flu Watch campaign. Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban said that P60 million of this would come from the health department, P40 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and P12 million from the agriculture department.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo is expected to meet separately with US President George Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

In a press briefing, however, Custodio and Vice Consul to Seoul Juan Dayang Jr. refused to give details on the possible talking points between the two presidents.

"We are working on meetings on the sidelines or pull-aside talks with President Bush and President Roh Moo-Hyun," Dayang told reporters in Busan.

Asked what would be on the agenda with the meeting with Mr. Bush, Dayang said: "Bilateral issues and Philippine initiatives and concerns."

He added that the meeting with the US President might take place this morning when he meets with ASEAN heads of state at the Chosun Westin Hotel, or at the fringes of the lengthy APEC Leaders’ Retreat tomorrow at the Nurimaru APEC House.

Custodio, however, said the bilateral talks would most likely take place during the APEC leaders’ Summit as the ASEAN meeting would last only for an hour.

Dayang said that in previous APEC meetings, one-on-one meetings between Mrs. Arroyo and the US President were relatively easy as seating arrangements at various events had them seated together.

The meeting with Mr. Roh, on the other hand, would touch on his coming state visit to the Philippines from Dec. 14 to 16, as well as economic, cultural and trade issues. He said the state visit was in reciprocation for the President’s state visit to Seoul in 2003, when she was the first state visitor of the Roh presidency.

Dayang said the Korean President has agreed in principle to start negotiations for an RP-Korea Economic Partnership Agreement.

Korea is ranked as the ninth largest market for Philippine exports and the fourth largest source of imports. A possible $1-billion investment agreement will also be discussed on the construction of a shipbuilding facility in Subic and a coal-powered plant in Cebu. — Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, AP