VARIOUS YOUTH groups and college students across the nation assembled at the Ateneo for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Youth Dialogues last August 12. Held at Escaler Hall, the forum was hosted by the Ateneo Department of Sociology and Anthropology, in partnership with the Ayala Foundation, Foreign Service Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the United States (US) Embassy Manila.
Pioneer members Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, formed the Asean in 1967 upon signing the Bangkok Declaration, its founding document. Years later, it has included Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Brunei in its roster of member states.
Heavily inspired by the Link, Engage, Activate, Develop Asean Youth Summit held last year in Manila, the Asean Youth Dialogues The Asean integration, slated to happen in 2015, aims to strengthen the ties within the region, boost economic activity, tighten maritime security and grant more jobs.
Cultural hodge-podge
In his opening remarks, Department of Sociology and Anthropology chairperson Ricardo Abad, PhD, who has a doctorate in Sociology, called for Filipinos “to be open to similarities with other Asean countries” while becoming “aware of our differences.” He also valued “multicultural sensitivity” in dealing with other countries within the Asean community, be it language, culture or customs.
“So to say we are firm with our Filipino identity, we are also flexible in dealing with multicultural groups… and this is the challenge. I think that we are now in the opening leg of the caravan to begin to understand what the implications of this would be,” he added, referring to the integration.
Teresita Daza, executive director of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) – Office of Asean Affairs, mirrored Abad’s sentiments on realizing the potential of the region in seizing more opportunities. “There’s one thing we cannot escape from, and that is geography. And geography becomes our destiny,” Daza said. She explained that a better appreciation and understanding to what is happening to the region allows us to seize opportunities to become better.
Daza also lauded the wide diversity of the Asean community, ranging from government, language, economic growth and human development. “Diversity is a challenge, as well as an opportunity for the region,” she added. “There is much to learn in terms of multiculturalism but at the same time it’s very important for each country to know what is its interests and what it is going to fight for in this region.”
Plotting the map
The upcoming integration carries a myriad of opportunities involving trade, investment, infrastructure development and global competitiveness. According to Daza, current efforts are made to narrow the developments gaps within the region. “Asean has embarked on a very ambitious project and that project is called community building. But at the same time, a facet of that community-building is integration,” says Daza.
While integration is more economically inclined, Daza said that there are some areas of utter concern, mentioning issues within the country from the dispute of West Philippine Sea to the post-Yolanda rehabilitation.
The aspect of “consultation and consensus” also plays a vital role in decision-making and solving issues, said Daza. “Because if you push an issue, if a decision is made not at a concord level of its members state, then it will not be sustainable within the Asean setting,” she explained. Daza reiterated its importance on the future endeavors of Asean, particularly on recruiting East Timor.
With the date of integration fast approaching, Daza observed that many people are not aware of the integration and do not understand how Asean works. She highly encouraged raising the public’s awareness on the region’s current events, instead of limiting it to the government sector.
“December 2015 is not the end goal of Asean integration. It’s just a reference point where Asean will actually assess where we have gone from the time we’ve agreed to actually deepen our cooperation and integration efforts,” she clarified.
Three pillars
Three pillars form the foundation of the Asean community: Economic, political security and socio-cultural. “Asean has a road map that specifies the different measures that have to be undertaken so that it can actually be able to become more politically cohesive, economically integrated and socially responsible,” Daza said.
During the plenary session, a panel of representatives from each pillar shared insights from their respective breakout sessions.
For the Economic Pillar, University of the Philippines Diliman graduate Alastair Erfe related agriculture and agri-business to economic development. Their group also focused on security and food wastage, urging the audience to “not waste food because you’re putting a lot of pressure on our farmers to produce more”.
She also explained how most people nowadays, particularly the youth, are “somewhat allergic to be part of the agricultural industry, when in fact, we belong to the agricultural sector.” She emphasized the need to change this negative mindset, for “farmers are an endangered species and we need more farmers to replace them.”
The Political-Security Pillar representative Erik Chua, a member of the National Youth Commission, and his fellow participants were given an orientation of the current facets of corruption, ranging from bribery to transparency.
However, he concluded that what needed to be addressed was the lack of participation from the citizens. “We know these problems exist but the Filipinos or maybe other countries don’t really know their role on how they can possible help these problems from the local government,” he added.
He also stressed that it’s critical to note that the government is not entirely accountable for corruption. He explained that since the people adhere to the processes of the government, they are an extension of the corruption. Chua noted that this can be resolved through good citizenship, and how the citizen can contribute to government reform is through feedback.
The Socio-Cultural Pillar representative, Nicklaus Baruzo from Far East Air Transport Incorporated University, shared how their group was taught cultural dances from the Philippines and other Asean countries, such as Malaysia, to further understand the similarities that bridge gaps between borders. He observed that a common theme among these folk dances was the imitation of bird movements. “Even if Malaysia is far from the Philippines, there is still a common background of their folk dances,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Outside support
In his closing remarks, the US Ambassador to the Philippines, Philip Goldberg, explained why the US is interested in the Asean discourse, despite not belonging to Asean. He said US President Barack Obama decided that it was beneficial to invest time and effort in supporting the youth in this region.
“We think that Asia is the rising area of the world, economically, and in many, many ways. The youth population, and the growth population generally, is an important factor in the economic prosperity of the region, and the hopes and aspirations of the countries of the region,” Goldberg said.
In an interview with The GUIDON, Goldberg further discussed the relevance of Asean relations with the US and its contribution to the Economic Pillar: The Transpacific Partnership (TPP). He explained that the TPP creates trade and investment ties in the whole Pacific Rim, which allows Asean to align various national policies for easier trade with neighboring countries. “We think those kinds of agreements help promote trade and investment, promoting therefore, more jobs and economic opportunities for the young people of the region,” he added.
Goldberg also said that the US shares the vision of Asean in advancing democracy and human rights, respect for international laws, supporting public health and education and protecting the environment. “What Asean is doing is putting forth to its own program of integration economically to try to align various national policies so it’s easier to trade so like customs and duties… we support that,” said Goldberg.
Youth action
Isagani Cruz, PhD, president of the Manila Times College and the former Undersecretary of the Department of Education, explained that the change in the General Education curriculum in the K-12 program is geared towards making the Filipino student “globally competitive.” Cruz asked the young participants to keep Asean in mind when planning their careers and their futures.
In regard to the political area, Chua expressed the need for the youth to be aware of their rights, and of the “little corruptions” in their respective municipalities. For the socio-cultural aspect, Baruzo told students to join school organizations that specialize in traditional culture as a means of promotion and awareness. As for the economic area, Erfe called the youth to change their mindset towards agriculture by recognizing the service sector as the backbone of society.
“You comprise a sizable chunk of Asean. You play a vital role in building region and contributing to development,” Daza told the youth participants.
The US ambassador encouraged meetings like the Youth Dialogues, in which speakers from the DFA and other government agencies deconstruct issues for better understanding and awareness. He also suggested sparking discourse in classes and with professors about current events. “The more you know about these kinds of issues and you discuss them, the better it is for mutual understanding, for trying to breach peaceful solutions,” he said.
