Filipino unity and ASEAN integration

Whenever Cebuanos meet anywhere, the talk is about the rush to fix all our major roads, paint public buildings and yes, even most privately owned buildings are given the face lift, all in the name of the upcoming 12th ASEAN Leader’s Summit. While Cebu has its share of killings and murders, I’m pretty sure that the crime rate has gone down and that’s because some 3,000 cops have been added to the force. Cebu never had so many cops per square kilometers. People are saying there should be an ASEAN Summit every year!

Last Sunday, the 27th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) kicked off with no less than House Speaker Jose de Venecia leading the meeting of 300 parliamentarians from all over Southeast Asia. This year’s theme is "Caring and Sharing for ASEAN Prosperity." I’m sure Joe de V must be teary-eyed greeting all those parliamentarians and cursing the fact that we still have not "cha-chaed" into a parliamentary system in this country.

As I didn’t find the need to cover this event, my understanding is that this ASEAN General Assembly of Parliamentarians aims to foster strong economic growth and equity among neighbors in the region. Topping its agenda is supposedly another proposal for a political unification among ASEAN nations through an ASEAN Parliament that would legislate and confirm common action on world peace, terrorism, poverty, environmental health, narcotic drug trade, cross border crimes, human rights and social justice. De Venecia and Rep. Antonio Cuenco of the South District of Cebu dubbed it AIPO Cebu 2006.

If AIPO Cebu 2006 would create an ASEAN Parliament, why stop there? Why don’t we become like the European Union (EU) and come up with a free trade pact, no visa requirements at the borders and yes, even a common military force and the most important of all...a common currency! If the EU has their Euro, then by all means, let’s do away with the ringgit, the rupiah, the baht and the peso and welcome the ASEAN dollar. If we have to put meaning to AIPO Cebu 2006, then what we’re writing here should be discussed by our politicians, by the parliamentarians and the rest of ASEAN.

Mind you, this idea isn’t discussed only in political circles but by the business circle as well. A week ago, we wrote about the talk of Asian Institute of Management president Francis Gonzalez Estrada during a business competitiveness and leadership forum at the new Parklane Hotel, sponsored by the AIM Alumni Association of Cebu. This was the business forum organized by AIM in preparation for 12th ASEAN Summit. AIM’s Estrada, who spoke on the theme "Our country and the ASEAN Summit: Leadership and Competitiveness," referred to this issue as regional integration.

Actually, what he was referring to was the Asian Federation proposed way back in the ’60s dubbed MAPHILINDO, which stands for the Malaysian, Philippines, and Indonesian Federation. Perhaps it was too early in its time to make a similar proposal. But certainly, 45 years later and with the creation of the European Union in Europe and with the United Nations (UN) not quite united these days... we should no longer stop talking about ASEAN integration, we should now make it a reality!

If you want a reason why we in the ASEAN should integrate, all we need to do is look at China. That the People’s Republic of China got the biggest share in foreign investments vis-à-vis every single country on this planet is something all nations are envious of. But as AIM’s Estrada mentioned last week before Cebuano businessmen, there was some $14 billion worth of investments that went to the ASEAN last year, which was actually higher than what China got.

There’s a lesson to be learned here and we learned it when we were in high school — "united we stand, divided we fall." Simply put, if ASEAN nations are integrated, the region can even beat China in its own game. Divided? Well, that’s what ASEAN is today...a group of divided nations trying to find a common ground to seek the prosperity that China is already enjoying!

Here’s another motivation for integration. If the United States gave China it’s first economic boost when it accorded the country the "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) status, it was due to the reality that China is the biggest market in the world; thanks to its 1.3 billion population. If India today is given special attention, it is also due to its population, which also runs into billions. Collectively, there are 560 million people in the ASEAN and we are situated between two of the world’s emerging economies — India and China. Even if we only traded among ourselves, we’d be doing fine against the rest of the world...economically that is!

Surely by now, we know in our hearts that the Philippines have always had a bad international reputation. We’ve always been known as the "sick man of Asia." Therefore, we are very sure that many countries look down upon us or belittle us. This is precisely why our chairmanship of the ASEAN is so important to Philippine business because we control the ASEAN agenda for a whole year!

This was what frustrated the AIM president the most...that Manila-based businessmen are not agog over the forthcoming ASEAN Summit. Perhaps many of them do not want to grab the limelight from the Cebuano businessmen...or perhaps they merely want to shy away from Cebu so as to give us Cebuanos some kind of leeway. Perhaps it is because journalists like me have complained too much about that "Manila-only attitude" or that Manila is the Philippines, and the Philippines is Manila. Basi na-ikog?

I would like to assure Manila businessmen that the ASEAN Summit is not a "Cebu only" affair. It is merely being held in Cebu and at this point in time when ASEAN integration is being discussed seriously, we have to show some kind of solidarity among Filipino businessmen. After all, it is not everyday that we are given the grand opportunity to chair the ASEAN at a time when ASEAN has gained the respect of the rest of the world.

Allow me to say that it is time for all Filipinos to work together for the good of the Philippines now that we are the chair of the ASEAN and the chance to make ASEAN an economic powerhouse that we could become if we agreed to sit down together and make things work! Europe would not be what it is today without the EU and I believe ASEAN integration should become a reality for the greater benefit of the ASEAN people.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in the Freeman can also be accessed through the The STAR website. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable at 8 p.m. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.