OUTLINE OF TREATY SPONSORSHIP SPEECH

By Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago

(Sponsorship speech, as Chair of the Senate Com. on Foreign Relations, on [date])

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues:

1. Com. Report No. and Resolution No.

2. Issues Involved (that gave rise to treaty)

3. Chronology of Facts (leading to treaty)

4. Main Features (of treaty)

5. Obligations Upon Ratification

6. No. of state parties, specifying SEA countries

7. RP agencies that endorsed ratification (Department first, followed by Bureau)

8. Benefits of Ratification

9. For these reasons, I humbly recommend that this Senate should ratify the (title).
 ASEAN CHARTER SPONSORSHIP SPEECH

By Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago

(Sponsorship speech, as Chair of the Senate Com. on Foreign Relations, on [date])

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues

I. Issues Involved (that gave rise to the ASEAN Charter)

The ASEAN Charter is not an end in itself. It is the useful beginning needed by the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations in order to realize its fullest potentials as the only
credible, regional organization bringing together the ten (10) countries and 560 million
peoples of Southeast Asia.

That is the inspiration that guided the five (5) Foreign Ministers of the founding members
of ASEAN - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – when they
signed the Declaration on the Establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) on 8 August 1967. Grounded in the reality of a region marred by
conflicts, ideological confrontations, and even war, in the mid-1960s, these countries
made a historic decision to forge a common future for the ASEAN region.

However, after forty one years of existence, the ASEAN we have is now at a critical
turning point. The ever-changing regional and global landscape calls on ASEAN to
strengthen its internal structures and systems in order to maintain its relevance and
viability amidst the challenges of an increasingly interdependent world. ASEAN, in order
to remain relevant and vibrant, must also evolve.

As ASEAN needs to transform itself from a loosely-organized regional body into a more
rules-based grouping with a legal personality of its own. Its expanding mechanisms must
be restructured to improve decision-making, enhance coordination, ensure
implementation of decisions and agreements, and put in place viable dispute settlement
mechanisms.

ASEAN’s membership has already expanded from five to ten Member States while
official organizations, committees and meetings have multiplied spanning the breadth of
twenty eight (28) different Ministerial sectors and more than 700 meetings at all levels by
2007. With such rapid growth, ASEAN needs a stronger and more efficient
organizational structure to serve its requirements.

Lack of coordination has also become a serious problem - between and among ministerial
meetings, between the meetings of ministers and those of senior officials within the same
Community pillar, and between meetings at each of these levels across all three pillars.
And through the flurry of meetings, the travel and other expenses for officers and
technical experts crisscrossing over the ASEAN capitals make participation in ASEAN
costly.
Furthermore, it is no exaggeration to say that ASEAN and its members are engaging
virtually the whole world in dialogue and cooperation through the ASEAN Plus Three
mechanism with China, Japan and Korea, the East Asia Summit spanning _, the ASEAN
Regional Forum with ------- Meanwhile the Association innovated summits in various
formats with non-Southeast Asian heads of state or government as well. From 1967 to
today, ASEAN has multiplied its relations with the rest of the world several times over.

It is in this context that an ASEAN Charter can help the organization prepare itself to
bring into being, by 2015, a meaningful ASEAN Community. The ASEAN Charter will
bring about the long overdue legal framework. It will also help ASEAN reposition itself
and address the growing challenges and opportunities of regional integration, the major
shifts in the Asian landscape and Asia’s widening links with the rest of the World.
ASEAN must continue to be relevant in the coming decades and remain the driving force
in regional cooperation bound by deeper political and security cooperation, with a
dynamic and vibrant regional economy, and stronger socio-cultural linkages.

II. Chronology of Facts (leading to the ASEAN Charter)

The idea of having an ASEAN Charter is not new. In fact it was the Philippines that
proposed, as far back as the 1970s, that there must be some constitutional document to
formalize the establishment of ASEAN. However, while discussions at that stage among
the five founding members of ASEAN did not lead to a Charter, it bore fruit in the
signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the Declaration of
ASEAN Concord at the First ASEAN Summit in Bali in 1976.

The Declaration, in particular, acknowledged the need to improve ASEAN’s machinery

and promised in that context to study the desirability of “a new constitutional framework”
for the Association.

However, it was not until the early 2000s, when the designs for ASEAN Community
building were being drawn up, that the need for a constitutional framework for ASEAN
became necessary and the idea of drafting a charter finally resurfaced.

At the 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta on 29 – 30 June 2004, the

ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to work towards development of an ASEAN Charter

On 12 December 2005 at the 11th Summit in Kuala Lumpur, the ASEAN Leaders
signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter. They
agreed to establish an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to examine and provide practical
recommendations on the directions for ASEAN and the nature of the ASEAN Charter
and tasked their Ministers to establish a High Level Task Force to carry out the drafting
of the ASEAN Charter based on the Declarations and the recommendations of the EPG.
After eight (8) meetings and consultations with various national and regional
stakeholders, including ASEAN Leaders, Foreign Ministers and Economic Ministers, as
well as representatives of civil society organizations, the academe, the private business
sector, and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the EPG Report was
finally submitted to the ASEAN Leaders during the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu,
Philippines on January 2007.

Then the High Level Task Force on the Drafting of the ASEAN Charter came into
play to draft the ASEAN Charter based on the directions given by the Leaders, and in
consideration of the recommendations by the EPG and other relevant ASEAN
documents. Working with a deadline set by the Leaders, the HLTF had numerous
meetings and held extensive consultations with stakeholders through the cities of
ASEAN.

The 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu witnessed the signing of the Cebu Declaration on the
Blueprint of the ASEAN Charter to endorse the EPG Report as one of the bases of the
drafting of the Charter. And, finally, the ASEAN Charter was signed on 20
November 2007 in Singapore.

III. Main Features (of the ASEAN Charter)

The ASEAN essence has always been about building relationships, be they diplomatic,
economic, social or political. And nurturing as well as pruning relationships require
managing differences among neighbors without foreclosing the continued membership of
any fellow member.

ASEAN needs to be both more trim and also more institutionalized. The Charter takes a
good step forward by creating a coordinating council to try to ensure that the many
meetings that ASEAN holds are trimmed to be more effective and directed.

It is also a step forward to empower the Asean Secretary-General to monitor and report
non-compliance to the summit. An Asean secretariat with more responsibility can hedge
against depending too much on the Asean chair, especially when domestic politics heat
up and distract.

The ASEAN Charter reaffirms ASEAN’s purposes and principles. Member States
articulate their long-term goals for ASEAN, as stipulated in Chapter I: Purposes and
Principles. The ASEAN Charter lists 14 key principles in its Article 2: Principles. Most
of them are well-known principles found in the UN Charter. The Charter also mentions
democratic values, including the promotion and protection of human rights, fundamental
freedoms, the rule of law, and good governance in three separate parts of its text
(Preamble, Purposes, and Principles).

The ASEAN Charter addresses the issues that have plagued ASEAN. It will serve as
the Constitution of ASEAN and will provide the political framework for ASEAN
Member States to work together in a rules-based environment where decisions are legally
binding. It will also be the foundation of Member States to further build on the ASEAN
Community beyond 2015.

The ASEAN Charter will introduce more efficient institutional changes to ASEAN
with the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) comprised of the ASEAN Foreign
Ministers to prepare for the sessions of the ASEAN Summit and the three ASEAN
Community Councils comprised of the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)
Council, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Council and the ASEAN Socio-
Cultural Community (ASCC) Council.

Some key institutional changes brought by the ASEAN Charter is the creation of an
improved structure to ensure greater efficiency and prompt implementation of ASEAN
agreements and decisions, holding of the ASEAN Summit twice a year, creation of an
ASEAN Coordinating Council (consisting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers), having single
Chairmanship for key high-level ASEAN bodies, appointment by Member States of
Permanent Representatives to ASEAN to form a Committee of Permanent
Representatives in Jakarta and establishment an ASEAN human rights body.

The Charter will also give the ASEAN Chair and the Secretary- General a new role in
dispute settlement. The Secretary-General will also have an enhanced role in monitoring
progress (including reporting non-compliance).

The ASEAN Charter maintains the inter-governmental nature of cooperation among

its members. ASEAN has no supranational element. The regional organization continues
to respect the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national
identity of all ASEAN Member States.

ASEAN has established the High Level Legal Experts Group whose task is to give
recommendations and draft protocols defining ASEAN’s legal personality. The
Philippines recently hosted the 2nd Meeting of this body during which it was agreed,
among others, to conclude a draft protocol to implement the provisions of the ASEAN
Charter on the Legal Personality of ASEAN giving ASEAN the legal capacities to (a)
enter into contracts, (b) to acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property, and
(c ) to institute legal proceedings.

While decision-making will continue to be based principally on consultation and

consensus, the process is improved in the sense that, in the case of a serious breach of the
Charter or non-compliance, the matter shall be referred to the ASEAN Summit for
decision.

Dispute settlement in ASEAN will become more systematic under Chapter VIII:
Settlement of Disputes. The ASEAN Chair or the SG of ASEAN may be requested to
assist in dispute settlement (according to Article 23: Good Offices, Conciliation and
Mediation in Chapter VIII) and the Secretary-General of ASEAN will monitor and report
on compliance (according to Article 27: Compliance of Chapter VIII). Under the Charter,
ASEAN will maintain and establish dispute settlement mechanisms in all fields of
ASEAN cooperation. At present, a High Level Legal Experts Group is addressing this
issue.

The ASEAN Human Rights Body will be a new organ of ASEAN. The establishment of
an ASEAN Human Rights Body should help redress this situation. With a Human Rights
Body, ASEAN can impart to the world its regional perspective on human rights. The
TOR of the ASEAN human rights body will be fleshed out by a High Level Panel, which
will begin drafting right after the 42nd AMM in July. It would have to be approved by the
ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.

The Secretary-General of ASEAN will have greater mandate and more important
role especially in monitoring the progress of implementation of Summit decisions and
ASEAN agreements, ensuring compliance with economic commitments, especially those
in the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, interpreting the ASEAN Charter if and
when requested, representing ASEAN’s views in meetings with external parties and in
advancing the interest of ASEAN and its legal personality.

Since one of the main criticisms of ASEAN is its failure to timely implement its
decisions and agreements, through the ASEAN Charter, all ASEAN states will be bound
to implement all ASEAN decisions and agreements in a timely manner. In addition,
the Secretary-General of ASEAN is now mandated to monitor the progress of
implementation of Summit decisions and ASEAN agreements.

The Charter provides for entities in support of ASEAN’s purposes and principles to
engage with ASEAN in a more people-oriented approach. The Charter reiterates
commitment to community building in ASEAN.

The ASEAN Charter underscored the commitment of the Leaders of ASEAN to

intensify community-building through enhanced regional cooperation and
integration.

IV. Obligations Upon Ratification

Through the ASEAN Charter, all ASEAN states will be bound to implement all ASEAN
decisions and agreements in a timely manner.

In addition, the Secretary-General of ASEAN is now mandated to monitor the progress of

implementation of Summit decisions and ASEAN agreements.

V. No. of state parties, specifying SEA countries

All the 10 ASEAN Member States must ratify the Charter before it can enter into force.
In order to expedite the process, the ASEAN Leaders have signed the Singapore
Declaration on the ASEAN Charter pledging to ensure the timely ratification of the
ASEAN Charter by Member States and fulfill the rights and obligations contained in the
Charter.

The Charter enters into force 30 days after the deposit of the 10th instrument of
ratification with the Secretary-General. After which, it will be registered with the United
Nations Secretariat.

VI. RP agencies that endorsed ratification (Department first,

followed by other agencies, based on Senate Foreign Relations Hearing on 28
August)

VII. Benefits of Ratification

Asean’s charter is not a destination but one of many milestones on the long journey to a
peaceful and developed region. The immediate concern, in the present forest of issues, is
to avoid wearing it as a millstone around Asean’s collective neck.

The establishment of an ASEAN human rights body, which is a Philippine initiative, will
ensure that ASEAN will conform to the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter
relating to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms
in the region. The Philippines continues to push for the promotion and protection of
the rights of the vulnerable sectors of society, such as the women, children and migrant
workers.

People-oriented. The highest values of ASEAN Community building, of an ASEAN for

the ASEAN peoples, will be realized as the Philippines continues to call for more active
engagement with civil society organizations.

ASEAN remains faithful to the principles of high value to the Philippines such as
democracy, the rule of law, good governance, and the promotion and protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms.

ASEAN remains important to the Philippines mainly due to the Organization’s role in
enhancing peace and stability in the region. Since ASEAN’s foundation in 1967,
security has been at the core of ASEAN’s existence and continues to be regarded as the
essential condition for its development.

The system for settlement of disputes would be beneficial to the Philippines. Any
dispute between the Philippines and another ASEAN Member State may be resolved
using the mechanisms laid out in the Charter.

With the Charter, all ASEAN Member States will be bound to implement all ASEAN
decisions and agreements in a timely manner. For the Philippines, this means that
agreements such as the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the
Rights of Migrant Workers and its subsequent agreements would have to be enforced.
With the creation of a Committee of Permanent Representatives permanently based in
Jakarta, the organizational structure will be streamlined with the number of meetings
of Senior Officials, Directors-General and other officials, as well as the costs attendant
thereto, substantially diminished. Most of the groundwork preparations for the ASEAN
Summits and the day-to-day administrative work can be settled in Jakarta, where the
Philippines will be ably represented by a Philippine Permanent Representative to
ASEAN.

The ASEAN Charter will encourage increased trade and investment through the
creation of a single market and production base through effective trade facilitation in
which there is free flow of goods, services and investment; facilitated movement of
business persons, professionals, talents and labor; and freer flow of capital.

The Charter is consistent with the recently signed ASEAN Economic Community
Blueprint which will establish ASEAN as a single market and production base with focus
on liberalized trade in goods and services and investment in the region. The
establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 will create a more stable,
prosperous and economically integrated region and will keep the Philippines competitive.

ASEAN continues to foster relations with countries outside the region as partners in
development. ASEAN Member States can benefit from the financial resources and
technical expertise contributed by ASEAN partners for development cooperation
projects.

Part of the challenge for ASEAN external relations today is how to show to its partners
that ASEAN means business. With the rules-based environment that will be created by
the Charter, ASEAN can prove to the world that it takes its obligations seriously and
entice its partners to remain supportive of ASEAN in its goal of integration by 2015.

The Charter provides for the creation of three ASEAN Community Councils namely, the
ASEAN Political-Security Community Council, the ASEAN Economic Community
Council, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council. These three councils will
have the relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies under their purview. The Charter
further improves coordination by allowing each Member State to designate its national
representation for each ASEAN Community Council Meeting.

With the Committee of Permanent Representatives assuming a significant portion of the

responsibilities of the ASEAN Standing Committee, the Directors-General can now
focus on serving as the national focal point.

The symbiotic relations between ASEAN and its Member States will continue to grow.
ASEAN as a regional grouping can contribute to Philippine national development and, at
the same time, the Philippines can also contribute to ASEAN’s community building.
The Philippines should preserve its gains from actively taking part in the drafting
process of the landmark ASEAN Charter, which reflect issues of important national
interest, including the:

• Establishment of an ASEAN Human Rights Body

• Criteria on the admission of new Member States
• Creation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community
• Role and Functions of the Committee of Permanent Representatives
• Strengthening the role of the Secretary-General
• Rules on the establishment and functions of ASEAN Committees in Third
Countries and International Organizations
• Clauses on human resource development and movement of natural persons