27th AIPO assembly opens in Cebu

CEBU CITY — Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. will open today the 27th general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) which seeks a transformation towards a political, economic and socio-cultural community in the region.

De Venecia, AIPO president, will welcome 300 parliamentary leaders and delegates from eight member-countries and several observer delegations at the Marco Polo Hotel here.

President Arroyo, who is in Helsinki, Finland to jump-start a five-nation trip, has sent her video-taped keynote address highlighting the opening ceremonies, which follows a call by delegation heads on De Venecia.

For the first time in years, the host nation holds both the presidency of the AIPO –the legislative organization –under De Venecia and the chairmanship of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Leaders’ Summit which is composed of heads of governments in the region. The Leaders’ Summit will be held in December also in Cebu City.

Immediately after the President’s address, the heads of the AIPO delegations of Cambodia (Samdech Heng Samrin), Indonesia (HR Agung Laksono), Laos (Thongsing Thammavong), Malaysia (Datuk Lim Si Cheng), Singapore (Abdullah Tarmugi), Thailand (Suchon Chaleekure), Vietnam (Nguyen Phu Thong) and the Philippines (De Venecia) will present their opening statements. Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. will also deliver his remarks.

The special observer delegations from Brunei and Myanmar will read their opening statements, to be followed by leaders from observer delegations such as Australia, Canada, People’s Republic of China, European parliament, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, and the United States.

On the eve of the general assembly’s formal opening, Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar and Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the organizing committee, said the bulk of the parliamentary delegations were expected to arrive on Sunday.

On top of the assembly’s agenda are issues such as counterterrorism through interfaith dialogues, and accelerating regional integration "after a quarter-century of learning experience in the habits of cooperation."

"We in AIPO have always regarded our organization as the precursor of what would be an ASEAN Parliamentary Council or an ASEAN Parliamentary Union - the beginnings of an ASEAN parliament," De Venecia said.

The AIPO General Assembly is preceded by an unprecedented round of consultations between AIPO and ASEAN on regional affairs, when De Venecia met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, then chairman of the ASEAN standing committee, in Kuala Lumpur in June.

De Venecia said the consultation meeting would be a regular feature between AIPO and ASEAN as part of the effort to bring ASEAN closer to the Southeast Asian peoples.

De Venecia said the ASEAN standing committee accepted several projects he brought up during the meeting on AIPO’s behalf, which includes the proposal for ASEAN to invite the six powers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to accede to the ASEAN agreement on counterterrorism.

"Cooperation between ASEAN and the Shanghai Six could curb the movement of extremists from Central Asia towards Southeast Asia-and give ASEAN counterterrorist agencies warning of terrorist plots," De Venecia said.

The creation of a Standby ASEAN Disaster Relief Fund for rescue, relief, and reconstruction in the aftermath of natural disasters has also been suggested.

ASEAN has endorsed two Philippine proposals to the global community: the creation of an Interfaith Council in the United Nations that would "coordinate the interfaith dialogues which the UN has approved and started to organize," and the debt-for-equity program that would enable the 100 poorest countries — in agreement with creditor-states and lending institutions — to divert a percentage of their debt service payments into national anti-poverty programs under the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

De Venecia said the debt-for-equity program has been endorsed by 132 countries belonging to the G-77, China, Pakistan, Russia and Belgium.