Civil groups insist on pro-people issues at ASEAN summit

Nov 25, 2017

By Mark Saludes
A conference of civil society organizations in Southeast Asia is demanding the inclusion of people’s issues in discussions at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit this week.

In a parallel meeting in Manila, leaders of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference said governments alone cannot address the challenges being faced by the region.

The group noted that economic bilateral treaties "disregard sectors with specific needs and rights" like farmers, workers, and urban poor settlers.

"Trade agreements only serve governments and corporations [and] bring negative impacts to marginalized sectors," said Dr. Eduardo Tadem, a conference spokesman.

He said ASEAN leaders and governments should break away form the "dominant concept of economic development" that only "produces economic, social, and environmental crises."

"What they do is talk how to do business but not address the most pressing issues of the marginalized sectors of the region," said Tadem.

He said a proposed ASEAN free trade deal, including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, only favors countries that get cheap raw materials and manpower from poor nations.

Joyce Godio of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact said the exclusion of representatives of tribal people from the ASEAN summit is a denial of indigenous peoples' rights.

"Regional leaders must acknowledge the indigenous people’s way of protecting the environment and their concept of comprehensive progress," said Godio.

Jelen Paclarin, chairwoman of the conference's regional steering committee, said ASEAN states need to "seal a meaningful partnership" with the people through consultative meetings.

"The lives of Southeast Asians should be at the heart of the ASEAN meeting, not businesses," said Paclarin.-- ucanews.com (Used with permission)