Gloria under fire over failed summit

President Arroyo is facing growing criticism over the Asean Summit, which she cancelled at the last-minute on Dec. 8, raising questions about her handling of the event that the Philippines was to host Dec. 10 to 14.

This was the first time in the 39-year history of the Asean that a summit was scrapped.

Philippine officials on Sun-day said “most of the Asean countries are willing to accept” a rescheduled summit Jan. 10 to 13 next year.

Malacañang had insisted that a looming typhoon in the Pacific — and not planned street protests and reports from foreign governments about a pending terror attack — was the reason for pulling the plug on the high-profile event. (See related story)

But after the storm passed far from the summit site on Saturday, politicians, opposition groups and analysts blasted Mrs. Arroyo’s decision, which sources said was “unilaterally” made.

“It’s a sign of a weak government,” said Tomas Osmena, mayor of the city of Cebu, where the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and a wider meeting of regional leaders had been due to begin on Sunday.

“We would not have cancelled it and we live here,” Osmeña told Agence France-Presse.

The abrupt cancellation, terror worries and other problems — X-ray security machines were covered in plastic bags to keep off rain dripping through the $10-million Cebu International Convention Center — have given her critics more ammunition.

“It’s brand-new and the roof is leaking,” said one official with the Asean business and investment summit held before the main events were cancelled.

“This will be remembered as the summit that failed,” the official added.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mrs. Arroyo had wanted to use the conference and its associated meetings to showcase the progress that the Philippines has made during her presidency, from 2001.

But critics say her report card is not looking good.

Poverty is still widespread with more than 40 percent of the country’s 84 million people living on less than two dollars a day, and her administration is regularly cited as one of the worst in the region on human rights. (See related story)

Just before the cancelled summit, Japan said it was concerned about the killings of left-wing journalists that have been blamed on the government, adding improvements on rights would be a condition for further aid packages.

“Mrs. Arroyo is not fooling anyone,” said Lidy Nakpil, an organizer of a series of protests by leftist groups that had been planned for the summit.

“Not even the Asean leaders would have believed her alibi of a typhoon,” Nakpil added.

The President earlier was harshly criticized over the convention center site, where squatter camps were bulldozed to make way for the summit — whose theme, chosen by Mrs. Arroyo herself, is “A caring and sharing community.”

Despite assurances from Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia that the building would be completed on time, workmen were still painting and decorating as local and foreign media moved in last week.

But the main source of public anger at Mrs. Arroyo was her decision last week to try to bypass the Philippine Senate as part of her unpopular plans to change the Constitution in what is seen as a way to solidify her power in office.

The proposal has triggered street protests, which include those from the powerful Roman Catholic church and other religious and business organizations, as well as broad civil society and social movements.

“Political noise in Manila over Mrs. Arroyo’s plans to change the Constitution might have played a part in the decision to cancel the summit,” said one delegate to the summit who asked not to be named.

Benjamin Diokno, a professor at the government-run University of the Philippines, said the President had been “scared of the mass action” that had been planned for the summit.

“Political survival for her comes first,” Diokno said.

“The weather was a good excuse,” he added.

Philippine officials also on Sunday proposed a new date next month for the aborted summit.

Some Asean members sent special planes to collect senior delegates after Mrs. Arroyo called off the event.

Lower-level officials had to scramble for airline seats out of Cebu over the weekend.

The city on the central island of the same name suffered only steady rain, which leaked through the roof of the convention center.

Announcement of the cancellation came a day after Britain, Australia, the United States and other nations warned against travel to Cebu, citing fears of a terrorist attack.

Foreign Affairs officials privately said the gathering had been scrapped because of those fears as well as worries about political protests against Mrs. Arroyo.

Marciano Paynor, the Philippine head of the summit organizing committee, said early indications are that majority of the Asean member-countries are open to the reset of the summit to Jan. 11-13 next year.

But Paynor added it is “quite possible” that the wider East Asia Summit — which groups the 10 Asean nations along with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand and which was also cancelled — might not take place in January.

Asean also holds “Plus Three” meetings with China, Japan and South Korea during its annual summits but it was unclear what the new proposal was for those meetings.

Paynor said he was unaware of a report that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be in Europe from Jan. 6-14.

Typhoon “Seniang” hit some parts of the Philippines, killing at least one person and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands, but the central Cebu region was virtually unaffected.

“We still feel that we made the right decision in consideration foremost of the safety of the delegates...,” Paynor said.

He added the proposal was for Asean foreign ministers to meet on Jan. 9 and heads of government on Jan. 11-13.

“These new dates have been forwarded to their respective capitals and we expect reaction to the availability of leaders to these specific dates by next week,” Paynor told a news conference.

“But our indications are that most of the Asean countries are willing to adjust and meet the main changes in the schedule for their respective leaders,” he said.

Paynor added member-countries may designate representatives to the rescheduled summit if leaders could not make it.

“Leaders are leaders and their calendars are always full,” he said.

Asean senior officials who draw up the agenda for ministers and leaders did meet in the past week, however, and summit spokesman Victoriano Lecaros said there would be no repeat meeting next month.

In addition to the summit, the formal meeting of the Asean foreign ministers was also postponed.

At a rushed dinner session Friday night, the ministers managed to sign four agreements to speed up economic integration.

A business forum on the sidelines of the main meeting also went ahead.

“Where others see a storm, losses and leaks we see the opportunity to improve ourselves and toughen ourselves more,” Garcia told the same news conference.

“Where others see a setback, Cebu moves on and moves forward,” she said.

Some locals were less upbeat about the cancellation.

“It would have been a big chance for the Philippines,” said Jonalyn Cacal, a security worker at the luxurious seaside Shangri-La Hotel, where disconsolate workers were on Saturday packing up the signs and banners meant to celebrate the summit.

On Dec. 9, or a day after the sumit was canceled, many Asean ministers, who were already in the country, snubbed a breakfast meeting hosted by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo at the Shangri-la Mactan resort.

Aside from Romulo, only three foreign ministers — from Thailand, Brunei and Singapore — were present during the meeting.

Cambodia and Malaysia did not push through with their trip to Cebu after the cancellation of the summit while ministers from Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam reportedly left early to catch a flight home.

They sent their senior officials instead to represent them in the breakfast meeting.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing were also invited to the meeting but did not show up.

Philippine officials said the two ministers did not make it to the meeting due to conflict of schedule.

Dismissing reports that the Asean ministers and delegates were displeased with the Philippine government’s decision to call off the summit, Romulo claimed his counterparts who were present during the working dinner Friday night “expressed full support” to move the dates of the Cebu summits.

“They appreciated the concern the Philippine government has shown for the safety and welfare of all the participants,” he told a press briefing.

Romulo took the cudgels for Mrs. Arroyo, saying he was the one who recommended the suspension of the meeting, but did not make the final decision.

But sources said the President unilaterally decided to call off the meeting in anticipation of massive protests against Charter change. AFP and Michaela P. del Callar

The Daily Tribune © 2006