President Benigno Aquino III led the Philippines today in marking the 43rd anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the release of a Filipino translation of the regional group’s charter. 

In his remarks, Aquino said his administration is committed to fulfilling international commitments without undermining and forsaking its national interests, while being “a good neighbor, a productive partner and a consensus-builder in ASEAN”.

Aquino said that the ASEAN Charter is today more of an aspiration rather than a reality. “My administration will do its part in the long process of creating a more binding commitment to our mutual economic and political interests.”

Aquino also vowed to abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, to support the ASEAN Connectivity project and to encourage further cultural exchanges with ASEAN neighbors.

The Filipino translation of the ASEAN Charter was made by the Komisyon ng Wikang Pilipino (Commission on the Filipino Language) and its release coincides with the observance of the Buwan ng Wika (Language Month).

Aquino has asked the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education to disseminate the Filipino translation of the ASEAN Charter in the nation’s schools.

The ASEAN Charter entered into force on December 15, 2008.

ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by its founding members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.  

Today, ASEAN is composed of 10 member-states including Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. 

The ASEAN has been criticized for being too soft on the issue of human rights, especially in the case of the military junta in Myanmar. 

While the ASEAN Charter includes an ASEAN Human Rights Body in its charter, critics, especially national, regional and international human rights watchdogs have found it wanting and toothless. 

“Expanded meetings” of the ASEAN which include China, the two Koreas, Japan and the United States, among others, have been viewed both as ASEAN’s efforts to expand its influence beyond the region and as a conduit for powers outside the region to meddle in its political and economic affairs.