By: Johnny Dayang
The recently concluded ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Leaders Summit the Philippines hosted, which coincided with the organization’s 50th anniversary, has decidedly been a success. It may be wise to look back and appreciate the inroads it has achieved despite the geopolitical undercurrents in most of its members.
Formerly known as SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization) composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, it was reconstituted in 1967 as the ASEAN, encouraged by the United States, to help strengthen the members’ anti-Communism agenda and pursue regional economic development.
It membership subsequently expanded 10 with the admission of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
One other country – East Timor – now sits as Observer and is expected to gain full membership shortly.
A hardly discussed aspect of ASEAN is the role Mindanao plays in its stability. ASEAN’s combined market of over 600 million people and its current focus on regional economic growth has won the interest of more developed APEC economies like the US, Russia, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the European Economic Community, among others.
This further highlights Mindanao, with its vital resources, which can prominently figure in helping pump-prime the ASEAN economy.
Hounded by insurgency, secessionism and terrorism, Mindanao remains largely unexplored. From the air, one can see its once lush forests now gone, denuded by loggers but its contiguous geography presents an alluring agenda of growth.
Serious interest in Mindanao’s potentials started only in 1994 when then President Fidel Ramos, BIMP-EAGA initiative took off the ground. It was growth zone concept for adjacent parts of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP). In November 1995 the first BIMP-EAGA international gathering of business tycoons and other stakeholders was held in Davao City.
Mindanao further gained political importance when President Rodrigo Duterte, employing an unorthodox partisan campaign strategy, won the 2016 presidential elections overwhelmingly. With his win PDP-Laban partymates Davao Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez and Sen. Koko Pimentel assumed the House Speakership and the Senate presidency, respectively.
Previous Mindanaon political stalwarts Emmanuel Pelaez and Teofisto Guingona Sr. became Vice Presidents, while Sen. Nene Pimentel and Davao Rep Prospero Nograles held the Senate presidency and House Speakership, respectively during their time.
Today, Mindanao stands on the threshold of economic explosion. Big-ticket government and private investors’ projects have been committed to the area, aside from commitments from foreign governments and investors.