RP parts ways with U.S. as it turns to Asia

RP parts ways with U.S. as it turns to Asia

By Cecil Morella

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is parting ways with the United
States as this former American colony positions itself with an
Asian-oriented foreign policy, the better to share in the
windfall of the region's economic boom, analysts say.

Three years after the Philippine Senate booted out a large
U.S. military presence in major bases here, Manila now finds
itself opposed to its former ally on issues as diverse as trade,
North Korea, China, Burma, and human rights.

With verbal missiles at U.S. policies in Asia flying thick,
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte met Foreign Secretary Roberto
Romulo here this week to explain Washington's position, but
failed to reconcile the two sides' differences.

"We need to reorient our policies to support our long-term
interests," said Noel Morada, a board member of the Manila-based
Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS). He said
the "logical trend" would be to look toward Asia rather than the
West.

Romulo fired off the initial salvo last month, criticizing
Washington's "overzealousness" in tying trade with China to its
human rights record, a position which he said could harm efforts
to find a peaceful solution to the Korean impasse.

The Philippines has also vowed to resist U.S. attempts to
insert a "social clause," such as protection of workers' rights,
into any trade agreement. Foreign Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino
describes the issue as a "disguised non-tariff barrier."

On the North Korean nuclear inspection issue, Romulo is taking
the side of other Asian nations which endorse continued dialog,
saying that "the American penchant for immediate gratification
has no place in a foreign policy concerned with such a sensitive
issue."

"The Philippines is part of the East Asian region," Morada
said. "Political instability will affect the economic stability
of the area."

The Philippines lost the U.S. military umbrella after American
servicemen completed their pullout from Subic Naval Base and
Clark Air Base in November 1992.

Stability is now the focus of Manila's diplomacy regarding the
disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, after
unsuccessfully seeking to commit Washington to support the
Philippine stake over part of the chain, which is also claimed in
whole or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

In concert with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and
Thailand, the Philippines has also sought to bring Myanmar into
the ambit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
defying the U.S. call for Myanmar's diplomatic isolation over its
human rights record.

Morada said the fact was Manila's views sometimes coincided
with those of Washington, and not always with ASEAN. But being a
small country, "it would need the support of other countries to
express its own interests" in international fora, a platform
offered by ASEAN, he added.

The United States remains the Philippines' largest trading
partner with annual two-way trade totaling nearly eight billion
dollars. Morada said it was unlikely that Washington would
withdraw Manila's preferential trading status on the basis of
disagreements over foreign policy.

The two governments themselves seek to downplay the discord.
"I don't think we're phrasing it that way," said Frank Jenista, a
first secretary of the U.S. mission here. He said the two sides
met regularly "to make sure we understand each other's position."

Undersecretary Severino said the two allies were taking
"slightly different approaches" on regional issues, but adds they
should be taken in the context of differing interests of a
developed and a developing nation.