ASEAN urged to deny Myanmar chairmanship

ASEAN urged to deny Myanmar chairmanship

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines senate is to pass a resolution calling for Myanmar to be stripped of its upcoming ASEAN chairmanship unless it releases a timetable toward democracy and improves human rights, its president said on Friday.

Franklin Drilon urged Myanmar's military government to respect the rights of its people ahead of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' informal meeting in the central Philippines city of Cebu on Monday.

"The Senate of the Philippines through the Committee on Foreign Relations has a pending resolution which is about to be adopted in the Senate which says Myanmar should not be allowed to assume the chairmanship of the ASEAN unless there is a definite timetable for the road map to democracy and the human rights issues are addressed," he said.

Drilon said Filipino Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo has told him "that he will bring to the attention of the informal gathering of foreign affairs ministers the sentiment of the Philippine Senate insofar as the Myanmar issue is concerned."

Politicians in ASEAN member states Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore have been seeking to prevent Myanmar from taking over the rotating ASEAN chairmanship next year, while Cambodia and Vietnam are backing Yangon on the issue. --AFP