17 June 2014 - The first Mangrove Forum on International Relations, titled “A Regional Security Architecture for the Asia Pacific,” organized by the Foreign Service Institute’s Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS), was held on 17 June 2014, 2:00-5:00 p.m., at the Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The main speaker was Prof. Carolina G. Hernandez, PhD, Founding President and CEO of the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS).
In her presentation, Prof. Hernandez emphasized the need to develop an effective regional security architecture to meet the challenges brought about by the breakdown of the World War II alliances, the emergence of the Cold War, the inadequacy of global governance, decolonization, the scientific revolution, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. She stressed that ASEAN should be at the forefront of this new regional security architecture to best serve the region’s interest.
Prof. Hernandez affirmed that if ASEAN wants to continue to maintain its centrality, it must rethink and reform certain areas, including the reframing of national sovereignty, the reconsideration of the decision-making process within the organization, adherence to international law, and acceptance of the responsibility to implement agreements, among others. She further stated that “centrality also means that ASEAN Member States can no longer think and act solely on the basis of national interest” and that there should be a reframing of national interest to include regional or ASEAN interests. She lamented that ASEAN Member States remain divided on the South China Sea disputes, which serves as a litmus test for ASEAN centrality, and ASEAN needs to have a coherent position such crucial issues.
The discussant, Mr. M. C. Abad, Jr., former Director of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Unit of the ASEAN Secretariat and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ISDS, elaborated on the ARF—what it set out to do 20 years ago, its limits and its weaknesses. He said that while we can create a new security architecture that has a more robust architecture, mandate, and resources than the ARF, these multilateral interactions form only one pillar of building a culture of peace, cooperation and trust. He added that what matters most is adherence to the rule of law, values and norms.
Among the guests were former President Fidel V. Ramos and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert F. del Rosario. Responding to a question raised during the open forum regarding the “decline of US and the rise of China” and where the Philippines should position itself, Secretary Del Rosario reiterated that the Philippines pursues an independent and principled foreign policy in accordance with its national interests. He said that the Philippines values its relations with both the US and China, although the Philippines is closer to the US because it is a long-term ally and it has more common values and norms.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario and former President Fidel V. Ramos address some of the issues during the open forum.
The Mangrove Forum is a venue for specialists, experts, and practitioners to engage in discussion of regional and global issues that have political, economic, and socio-cultural impact on the Philippines. Also in attendance during the inaugural forum were participants from the DFA, Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Congress, other government agencies, members of the academe, the diplomatic corps, and media.
The event was the first to be webcast live to the Philippine foreign service posts around the world. END