Asean members ratify charter

MANILA, Philippines – Four member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have ratified its charter, but the Philippines has yet to approve it.

The charter, a Philippine initiative, will give the regional bloc a legal personality.

Singapore was the first among the 10 members to ratify, formally sending its instrument of ratification on Jan. 7, 2008 to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Singapore affirmed its support for the charter after Dr. Surin Pitsuwan officially assumed the post as secretary-general of ASEAN.

Brunei, Malaysia and Laos have also ratified the ASEAN charter as announced during an informal meeting of foreign ministers last week in Singapore.

Brunei deposited its instrument of ratification last Feb. 15 while Malaysia and Laos followed on Feb. 20.

Surin, for his part, expressed hope that “the momentum for the ratification of the ASEAN Charter will increase and that the six other ASEAN member states will follow.”

In a simple ceremony at the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, Surin handed over to Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Darussalam, a copy of the letter of acknowledgment for the deposit of the country’s instrument of ratification.

Tan Sri Rastam Mohammed Isa, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, and Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Thongloun Sisoulith, deposited their respective countries’ instrument of ratification to Surin.

George Yeo, minister for foreign affairs and chairman of the 41st ASEAN Standing Committee, said the ratification ceremony was “simple but very important and meaningful.”

The ASEAN charter will enter into force on the 30th day after the 10th instrument of ratification has been deposited.

Regional leaders expect the charter’s entry into force in time for the 14th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok later this year.

The summit will be held at the Saranrom Palace, where the ASEAN Declaration was signed by the five founding fathers of ASEAN on Aug. 8, 1967.

The five founding members of the ASEAN are the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

The five countries were later joined by Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Purificacion Quisumbing, on the other hand, scored President Arroyo for linking the ratification of the ASEAN charter to Myanmar, which is under pressure from regional leaders for its human rights violations.

Quisumbing said it is “ironic” since the Philippines was at the forefront of negotiations to give the regional grouping a legal personality.

Quisumbing criticized the President for threatening the Senate would have difficulty ratifying the ASEAN Charter because of junta-ruled Myanmar’s failure to implement democratic reforms.

She said it will not look good for the Philippines to backtrack from ratifying the document.

The 10 heads of state of ASEAN signed the landmark charter during the ASEAN Summit in Singapore last year that carried the Philippine-initiative creating a human rights body.

The charter sets out principles and rules for the ASEAN for the first time and created a human rights body.

The charter, however, failed to elaborate on how it could effectively enforce and under what authority it will have to enforce it.