By Philip Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
HANOI, Vietnam—With other regional leaders, she looked back on a decade’s worth of summitry and had photographs taken for posterity.
After reminiscing with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders, some of whom she has known for more than a decade, President Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday wrapped up her last Asean summit before stepping down in June.
As she walked through the convention center at the end of the summit for her flight back to Manila, Ms Arroyo’s entourage was stopped a few times by people who wanted to have their photos taken with her.
In her assessment of what was achieved by the two-day 16th Asean summit, Ms Arroyo said the group took the right steps to achieve a functioning Asean Community in the next five years.
For one thing, Asean leaders issued a summit statement detailing the actions they will take to create a regional community “resilient to climate change,” she said.
Before going to Hanoi, Ms Arroyo called on the region to “speak with one voice” on this issue.
“The (summit’s) theme says from ‘Vision to Action’ and I think we achieved a lot on what actions we should do to make the Asean Community a reality by 2015,” the President told reporters here.
The President left for Manila at around noon after the summit ended but a few hours before her original 2:50 p.m. scheduled departure.
She and other Asean leaders were supposed to have a luncheon meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet but Trade Secretary Jesli Lapus attended in her behalf.
The President explained that that last meeting was “more of a social event”.
Only hours after she arrived here on Thursday, Press Secretary Crispulo Icban announced that the President was planning to return home that same night because she wanted to be with her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, who is recovering from a heart ailment.
But she eventually stayed in Hanoi overnight. A Malacañang official explained that Ms Arroyo had thought that the Asean leaders would be able to finish their discussions on Thursday but some issues “which needed consensus” remained unresolved until Friday morning, so the President decided to stay.
Besides attending the summit, Ms Arroyo also held meetings with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Rajak on Thursday.
Lapus said the President “reminisced” with Dung, whom she has known from the time they were serving as vice presidents of their respective countries.
“They’ve been friends and known each other when they were still vice presidents, they’ve known each other for 10 years,” he said.
Lapus said the President seemed “worried” about the condition of her husband although Jose Miguel Arroyo has been discharged from hospital.
“I think she’s worried about the First Gentleman.… We are also disappointed because Thailand was not able to come,” he added.
The summit took place amid an escalating political crisis in Thailand that forced Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to declare a state of emergency and cancel his trip to Hanoi. Thailand’s “Red Shirt” protesters, who briefly occupied parliament this week, are mostly supporters of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra and want Abhisit to resign and call new elections.
Despite Abhisit’s absence, Asean leaders found consensus about adopting strategies for keeping economic growth on track, bolstering their political and economic community and making common cause on climate change.
Asean leaders reaffirmed their goal to realize the Asean Economic Community, which will establish Asean “as a single market and production base by 2015”.
In a separate statement focusing solely on the region’s “joint response to climate change,” they called for enhanced scientific collaboration on how to downscale climate change effects and on providing detailed assessments on its impact, the vulnerability of the region, and adaptation options.
They added that they would incorporate climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies into their national development policies “in line with sustainable development”.
The election in military-ruled Burma (Myanmar) was not on the agenda but still occupied the attention of some of the Asean leaders, concerned their most truculent member hurts the group’s credibility.
Indonesia and the Philippines have publicly criticized Burma’s election laws which ban political prisoners, such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from running.
Asean leaders here stressed the importance of holding free elections in Burma this year. Rangoon (Yangon) has so far kept the date of the election secret.
The Asean leaders said they were briefed by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein on the “progress made” in the implementation of its Road Map to Democracy, “especially the preparations for the general election in Myanmar in 2010”.
“We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar and the holding of the general election in a free, fair, and inclusive manner, thus contributing to Myanmar’s stability and development,” the group said.
The Asean leaders also took note of the Philippine offer to host the secretariat of the Asian Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.
The group also reiterated its support for the Philippines' presidency of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference and welcomed the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC.
Inquirer.net
