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As the ASEAN summit is underway, I hope The Philippines have the better bargain when it comes to what we get out of this summit. We’re already spending millions to host this summit, and since we are the home team, I would hope we come out with more this time around.

So, here’s part of my wish list for the ASEAN Summit:

1. More Investments coming into The Philippines.
2. Better Public Relations from surrounding countries in order to promote Tourism.
3. Better protection from those countries who are willing to exploit our resources and land (ehem.. Japan)

So far, in just the first day, here’s what has transpired.

On the first day of the 12th ASEAN Summit, one Agreement and four Declarations have been signed by ASEAN leaders - reinforcing their commitment in the continuing integration of ASEAN and enhancing political, economic and social cooperation in the region.

The agreement and declarations signed are:

1. Cebu Declaration Towards a Caring and Sharing Community - which reiterates ASEAN’s commitment to accelerate cooperation to improve the quality of life for citizens in the ASEAN region.
2. Cebu Declaration on the Blueprint for the ASEAN Charter - ASEAN leaders endorsed the Report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on the ASEAN Charter and requested a task force to begin drafting the Charter.
3. Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 - which will advance the integration of the ASEAN Community five years ahead of the original plan.
4. ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers – which will intensify ASEAN efforts to promote fair and appropriate employment protection for ASEAN migrant workers.
5. ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism - aims at enhancing and deepening regional cooperation on counter terrorism activities.

So far so good. What I’m interested in as of the moment is actually the regional cooperation on counter terrorism activities, this has major implications in all aspects of the ASEAN nations moving ahead and out of the instability that this region sometimes tends to convey towards the rest of the world. In the past, we’ve headed towards the path of separate intelligence when it came to terrorism, and if there’s one thing we can take away from September 11, is that lack of communication from the different intelligence agencies can lead to disaster.

It’s definitely hard to progress in the world with the cloud of violence, terrorism, and instability above your head. I commend this commitment, but only time will tell if this is just talk without any actions involved.

Another concern, and I’m glad that this is being brought up, is the plight of migrant workers and on their standings in other countries… I’m hoping that with a strong alliance within the member nations of the ASEAN group, that we can have more leverage when it comes to our Overseas Filipino Workers in Dubai, Japan, and other countries in which there are always reports of mistreatment.

So, hopefully, there are some concrete improvements that come from the ASEAN Summit (2007) and that The Philippines will have a positive takeaway from this event.