But she quickly qualified that there was no guarantee that their views and recommendations would be taken up because Asean leaders could change everything.

Obviously, the former ambassador tried to lower the expectations of Asean CSO, which after all is dominated by her Filipino compatriots. Filipino representatives form the majority of those attending the dialogue forum. One of them cautioned that too many contributions from Filipinos would be unhealthy and that other countries should be given a chance to take more of an initiative. Unfortunately, only a few Asean members have genuine non-government organisations. Representatives from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines contributed much to the richness of the discussions. Those from Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma also chipped in from time to time.

As host, the Philippines tried very hard to ensure that the voices of Asean civil society organisations were heard. Several Asean members did not want to have this dialogue at all knowing full well that it could be embarrassing for them because the plans and desires by the Asean non-government sector could be too liberal. At first, Thailand suggested - in a foreign ministers' retreat last month in Siem Reap - that each member hold its own dialogue with its own civil society organisations and then gather this input for further consideration by the drafters of the Asean charter. However, time was running out so they agreed to have the Manila dialogue.

It was interesting to note that all Asean CSOs agreed that the Asean charter should avoid using the term "terrorism" in its preamble because it was the product of US diplomacy after September 11, 2001. Asean Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong was perplexed by this request saying that the United Nations and international organisations have used the term "terrorism" in all of their documents without reservation.

One more surprise came from the demand of several Filipino CSOs that the fourth pillar related to the environment be included in the charter. During the Bali Asean summit in 2003, leaders agreed to build the Asean community based on three pillars - security, economics, and socio-culture. To add an additional pillar, Ong suggested that the representatives approach officials handling environmental issues in their respective countries so that they could bring them to the attention of the drafters.

Some Asean CSOs at the forum felt that Asean charter drafters have not given due attention to the media's role in promoting a regional identity. They also would like to see media communities in various Asean countries do their job in raising the awareness of Asean objectives and collective consciousness and also serve as a springboard for feedback. How can an Asean community be promoted if the media are not on board or know very little of Asean's plans? Worse, how can a people-oriented Asean be realised if the media sector is being kept in the dark with no access to information concerning Asean activities?

The drafting of the Asean charter kicked off this week following the Asean CSO dialogue. On Monday alone, senior Asean officials were able to complete the preamble portion with 13 paragraphs that mentioned issues such as human security and human dignity.

The first draft will be ready by the end of July when Asean foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Manila. The second and final draft is expected by September. Asean ministers will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September and they will tie up all loose ends related to the charter before their leaders sign it at the November summit in Singapore, which is scheduled for November 19 to 21.

However, one should not expect too much from the current Asean charter drafters for two reasons. First, the charter drafters are senior foreign ninistry officials - five of them are current Asean senior officials, two are Asean director-generals, two are ambassadors at large, and one is a retired ambassador. So, they speak for their governments and related ministries and nobody else.

Secondly, in crafting the charter, the principle of consensus will be strictly observed. As such, nothing will get through if a drafter has a different point of view or disagrees with its wording. In the end, what appears in the charter will be that which is least objectionable to the drafters themselves. Here is the million dollar question: How can Asean drafters reach a compromise that will result in a visionary charter that still can make a difference and lead Asean into the next century?

Asean CSO also hoped that in the future a permanent consultative mechanism would be in place so that they can provide input to Asean leaders in proper and sustained ways. At the moment, no such mechanism exists.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation

MANILA