Indonesia is
Indonesia is
disappointed at
Philippines
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas dispensed
with diplomatic formality yesterday during a meeting with a
special envoy from Philippine President Fidel Ramos, expressing
anger that a conference on East Timor will be held in his
country.
"Let's not use diplomatic language here ... Indonesia is
disappointed at the Philippine government's inability to stop the
seminar," Alatas told reporters after meeting with the envoy,
former foreign minister Raul Manglapus.
The minister said the "Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor,"
planned to be held in Manila between May 31 and June 4, is
nothing but a platform for East Timorese who remain opposed to
the integration of the territory with Indonesia.
Manglapus was sent to Jakarta yesterday to defuse the
potentially explosive row between the two neighbors. Yesterday he
pointed out that the Philippine government does not have the
constitutional power to stop the meeting.
Alatas however refused to accept this reason and did not rule
out the possibility that this would affect relations between the
two countries.
"Although we can fully understand their constitutional
constraints about freedom of assembly and so on, there is also
something else in the relations between two countries, and that
is national interest," Alatas said after seeing off Manglapus.
"It is very difficult for us to see how national interest does
not play a role at all," he added.
Asked whether bilateral ties between the two countries would
be affected if the seminar went ahead, he said "it's a
possibility."
Alatas disclosed that Indonesia had asked the Philippines to
ban the seminar when it was first announced to the public in
October. "We had even been given their word that the Philippine
government would take strict action to ban it."
But in March, the Philippines informed Indonesia that it could
not prevent a non-governmental organization from organizing the
seminar, he said.
Alatas said Indonesia appreciated President Ramos' initiative
to send a special mission to explain its stance on the issue,
but also asked it to understand Indonesia's position.
He said he asked the Philippine's three-man delegation,
accompanied by Ambassador Eusebio A. Abaquin, to ask the Ramos
administration to reconsider its stand on account of Indonesia's
strong feelings on the issue.
He warned that the Philippines should not underestimate the
sensitivity of the East Timor issue.
Indonesia is opposed to the seminar because it is part of a
political campaign launched by exiled East Timorese leader Ramos
Horta in cooperation with local Philippine organizers.
"The seminar is not an academic exercise nor a human rights
conference but it is part of a political campaign launched by
Ramos Horta in collaboration with Renata Constantia and Cecilia
Ximenes, East Timorese students living in the Philippines."
Manglapus told reporters earlier that his government had tried
to stop the conference, that it is just not possible under their
law.
"According to our constitution, the government has no
authority to bar social organizations from organizing such a
meeting," he said.
He stressed that the Philippine administration has nothing to
do with the seminar and would not support it.
Manglapus also gave assurances that Manila's support for East
Timor's inclusion in the Republic of Indonesia has not changed.
He said his government hoped the seminar would not damage the
good bilateral relationship between the two countries.
It is not immediately clear whether Indonesia will still host
the next meeting between the Philippine government and the Moro
seccesionist organization, as has been planned for some time.
Indonesia has acted as a mediator between the Philippines and
the minority Moro ethnic group, which wants autonomy in the
southern Philippines. (rms)