Romulo to press Myanmar for democracy during visit

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said yesterday he would press Myanmar to move rapidly toward democracy during a visit this week to the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.

Romulo said he would meet Myanmar’s ruling junta during a visit to the reclusive nation from Thursday to Saturday. It was not clear if he would be allowed to meet detained pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose freedom has been demanded by the international community.

Romulo has said he would not use a meeting with Nobel laureate Suu Kyi as a condition for accepting an invitation by the junta to visit Myanmar.

Asked what he would discuss with the junta leaders, Romulo replied: "We have been consistent with the roadmap (to) democracy," referring to a package of democratic reforms that the junta has pledged to work on but which critics have criticized as being slow in coming.

Romulo is the latest official from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to visit Myanmar, also called Burma. ASEAN is a trading bloc that includes Myanmar, the Philippines and eight other countries.

The Philippines took over ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship from Malaysia last month but Romulo stressed he was visiting as a Philippine envoy.

Myanmar has become a source of embarrassment to ASEAN, largely because the country’s government has failed to fulfill promises to restore democracy and free political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.

ASEAN foreign ministers last month pressed Myanmar to show "tangible progress" on democratic reforms and sought the release of political detainees during their annual summit in Malaysia.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accompanied by his foreign minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon, reiterated those concerns when they met junta leaders in Myanmar last week but the military leaders did not give any indication whether they would release Suu Kyi.

"Let’s hope that they will release her. We’re keeping our fingers crossed because we have been waiting for this for a long time," Romulo told reporters.

Suu Kyi, 60, has spent nearly 11 of the last 17 years in detention, mostly under house arrest. She was most recently taken into custody in May 2003, after a mob supporting the junta attacked her motorcade. — AP, Pia Lee-Brago