Philippines’ push for a stronger intervention has left the draft declaration stranded.

The ASEAN Foreign Minister Meeting council is in a rage as the Minister of the Philippines votes against every single article, causing the draft declaration to fail.

The AMM council plays a crucial role in developing ASEAN’s role in global peace processes. For this particular conference, they aim to propose solutions regarding regional conflict resolution, ASEAN’s susceptibility to foreign manipulation in internal conflict resolution, and developing its role in global conflict resolution and peace processes.

The Minister of the Philippines speaking on the General Speakers List

After two tedious days of debate, the council has failed to reach a common consensus on a draft declaration. The draft declaration was not passed due to disagreement from the Philippines. The Minister of the Philippines said in one of his speeches that the Philippines believes military intervention is the only way to resolve the problem. 

As the debate continued, the ministers of Brunei, Malaysia, and Cambodia questioned the Philippines' objective behind objecting to the draft declaration. The Philippines further reinforced its rationale by stating that previous non-interference measures taken by ASEAN, such as the five-point consensus, were not useful in resolving the military coup in Myanmar. 

South Korea is in full support of the failed draft declaration. She hopes that the Philippines and the sponsors of the failed draft declaration can come to a common consensus. She will look to support actions that promote, as well as maintain, peace and autonomy in the region. South Korea will not make any moves to threaten the sovereignty of the region and hopes for peace for all.

Additionally, South Korea understands where the minister of the Philippines is coming from, but believes that further direct intervention will only aggravate the situation. South Korea is a firm supporter of peaceful and diplomatic solutions that align with the United Nations (UN) Charter. 

Moving the spotlight over from the Philippines to the United States of America (USA) and China. USA and China, one of the two biggest historical rivals, are seen in agreement over helping contribute to Cambodia, Malaysia, and Brunei’s frameworks. 

China will help to fund the creation of the PDD (Proactive Defence Diplomacy) and will do its best to financially support the other committees that are proposed to be created. On the other hand, the USA will contribute diplomats to the framework. The USA has offered its diplomats to help train diplomats from ASEAN countries. They believe their diplomats have sufficient experience and will be able to adequately train other ASEAN diplomats. 

The USA and China both support the code of conduct proposed. Both countries wish to continue supporting ASEAN by ensuring fairness. They have also acknowledged that ASEAN member states may have concerns regarding third-party influence in global conflict resolution. Regarding this, they are in agreement that in order not to let one region be dominant or have more power over another, everyone has to have an equal state and power. This is also such that one country will not have an advantage over the other. 

While all countries present in the council support these frameworks, the Philippines has expressed her disapproval, along with the idea of military intervention. She said that they should “send armed men to kill the military coup”, seemingly resulting in violence to tackle the problem. 

The US minister, however, has stepped up to address and validate the minister of the Philippines’ opinion. 

The US minister recognises that the US does at times conform to “violent” measures to solve its problems. However, he does not agree with the implementation of military intervention in this case. He believes in upholding ASEAN’s principles of neutrality, impartiality, and constructive engagement in international affairs when proposing solutions for this matter. 

Moving forward, an adjustment is essential. A different approach to face the future plenary debate may be considered by the Ministers, such as making compromises, merging or adopting each other’s strengths into their solutions, while acknowledging the security concerns raised by the Philippines. 

The Korea Times hopes to see a more fruitful, productive, and inclusive diplomatic discussion, where Ministers are not excluded and left stranded. Only then will ASEAN be more effective in coming to a consensus on resolutions and play a stronger role in peacekeeping.

Written by Faith Child, Toh Jia Ying, and Tan Hern Ern Maitri