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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
RP proposal on Asean parliament approved
MANILA -- The creation of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Parliament--a major Philippine proposal introduced at the 28th Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)--was unanimously approved for inclusion in the Asean Charter.
The region's leading parliamentarians approved for adoption three other major Philippine initiatives, representing a major leap forward in turning AIPA into a relevant force in regional cooperation and eventual economic and political integration.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Other endorsements by AIPA as reported by Cebu City Representative Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House foreign relations committee, included the multi-lateral extradition treaty jointly sponsored with Indonesia; feasibility studies for the creation of an Asean Monetary Fund; and a 10 billion trees program to reforest the region's bald mountains and help fight global warming.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia, who suggested the creation of Asean Parliament, said the move is "part of the vision of an Asean community" in line with the examples of Europe, Latin America and Africa, which have long created their regional parliaments.
In his report to de Venecia, Cuenco said AIPA authorized the conduct of region-wide consultations and feasibility studies on the creation of an Asean Monetary Fund, which de Venecia earlier proposed, and the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, (formerly the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace) already endorsed in Islamabad, Pakistan and Tehran, Iran.
The proposal is now under consideration in feasibility studies by various central banks in the region.
De Venecia said he expanded his one billion trees program in the Philippines to cover the 10 Asean states and a reforestation program involving the planting of 10 billion trees over a specific period of time.
The Southeast Asia program could reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help in the fight against drought and floods, de Venecia said. The program can also have benefits that would lead to solutions to drinking water and irrigation water problems of Asean countries while moving to restore ecological balance and raising employment.
He said Malaysian Prime Minister Badawi supported the idea of planting trees in the coastal areas as first line of defense against a tsunami.
De Venecia said the 10 billion trees reforestation program could be funded partly by the carbon credits embodied in the Kyoto Protocol.
"It is time that Asia - cradle of the great civilizations, religions and cultures - finally take a decisive step toward creating its own regional legislature led by Asean," de Venecia said.
The AIPA also approved the transmittal of the watershed debt-for-equity program, which de Venecia launched two years ago to the Paris Club and the G-8 nations following its endorsement by the UN General Assembly in December last year.
The program, which could help some 100 debt-strapped countries worldwide to achieve the UN millennium development goals by 2015, is focused on debt-for- equity in reforestation, clean water, food production, irrigation, health care, and education.
"We have a bumper crop of initiatives approved by the assembly. And these initiatives are serious programs intended to address the most pressing economic and environmental concerns of countries in the region-and those in other continents," de Venecia said.
The Philippine delegation to the AIPA was composed of Representatives Roque Ablan Jr., Lorna Silverio, Abraham Mitra, Mitos Magsaysay, Vincent Garcia, Victor Ortega, and Sharee Ann Tan. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (August 28, 2007 issue)
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