PH Calls for Bold, Realistic Visioning in Charting the Future of ASEAN
Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso and Ambassador Luis T. Cruz join other delegates at the Third Meeting of the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision in Jakarta, Indonesia on 07-08 September 2022. Photo: ASEAN Secretariat. (DFA-ASEAN photos)
JAKARTA, 12 September 2022 – Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, Eminent Person of the Philippines, called on ASEAN Member States to be bold but at the same time realistic in visioning the future of ASEAN at the Third Meeting of the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision held on 07-08 September 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“We should not be afraid to look boldly into the future and consider all the winds of change that are sweeping into ASEAN. We might be swept into oblivion if we do not pay attention to all these megatrends and cataclysmic changes that are happening around us. Let us view our responsibilities with this in mind – ASEAN is not immutable to change and must serve the people it represents. Let us deliver our responsibility with gravity and courage,” she emphasized.
The Philippines has incorporated in the initial draft of the core elements issues and concerns that various agencies and civil society organizations which, they believe, will truly serve the people of the Philippines and of ASEAN. Such issues include human rights, rules-based international order, digital economy and connectivity, climate change, and pandemic response and many others.
Philippines likewise advocated for institutional reform including strengthening ASEAN’s capacity and effectiveness, streamlining ASEAN’s decision-making process, strengthening the role of the various mechanisms of ASEAN especially the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), and enhancing the role of the ASEAN Secretary-General.
Ambassador Buensuceso and Ambassador Luis T. Cruz headed the Philippine delegation to the HLTF, which is tasked by the Leaders to chart the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision. END