President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has laid down the Philippine card when he expressed support this week for Australia’s possible inclusion in the largely economic bloc Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The President was responding to newsmen’s questions on the idea of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ebrahim to allow Australia, which hosted the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit this week, which became ASEAN’s dialogue partner in 1974, to become a member state.
The current ASEAN countries are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Timor-Leste, which applied to be a member in 2011, was admitted “in principle” in 2022 as the regional bloc’s 11th member but its full membership remains pending.
Australia considers ASEAN, founded on Aug. 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration). as its key trading partner, expecting its two-way trade with the regional bloc to reach US$400 billion by 2040, an increase from the US$178 billion posted in 2022.
President Marcos said: “Well, I cannot see why that would not be a good idea. Australia has already been a very active part of ASEAN. And for all intents and purposes, really, in all but name, they are already members of ASEAN. “
We join President Marcos in acknowledging Australia’s consistent support for all ASEAN-led mechanisms, noticeable in the 50 years of its dialogue partnership with the region.
“We appreciate the evolution of Australia’s strategic approach towards the region from the mere confines of the Asia-Pacific to our now wider common interests in the Indo-Pacific,” President Marcos told Australia and the ASEAN leaders.
“We thus encourage Australia to continue its active engagement both bilaterally and through ASEAN to ensure the primacy of peace and stability through confidence building, preventive diplomacy, and conflict resolution in the region,” he added.
We note Australia has consistently supported the rule of law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 2016 Arbitral Award to the Philippines through statements of support and capacity-building and academic initiatives to mainstream appreciation of international law.
President Marcos and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year signed an agreement, elevating the bilateral relationship, born on July 4, 1946, from comprehensive to strategic partnership during Albanese’s visit to the Philippines in September last year leading to the two countries’ conduct of the first bilateral maritime exercises over the West Philippine Sea in November last year.
We also note Australia serves as the second home to around 408,000 Filipinos and Australians of Filipino descent.
Strategic policy observers have noted, and we agree with them as we rally behind President Marcos’ own declaration, that Australia, with a population of 25.69 million, would be a “game changer” for the 10-nation economic alliance, considering the geopolitical and security this bloc of nearly 690 million people is facing.
Undoubtedly, that huge market, with its growing strength as an economic powerhouse, would likewise boost the Australian economy.