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UPDATED: 21 November 2007 |
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PGMA returns to RP with mixed
emotions |
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today she
had mixed feelings about returning home after attending the 13th Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits held at the
Shangri-La hotel in Singapore.
The President abruptly cut short her attendance at the ASEAN leaders summit
by one day to personally oversee and monitor the government's relief
operations in the areas battered by typhoon "Lando" which left a wide swath
of destruction in the Bicol region.
In her arrival statement, the President said she was "saddened about the
plight of the victims of the recent typhoon but satisfied about the results
of our efforts in Singapore."
ASEAN Leaders representing the 10-member nations formally signed yesterday
in Singapore the ASEAN Charter which gives the regional body its legal
personality.
The landmark document will meld the disparate countries in the region into a
more cohesive bloc with a rules-based governing framework and binds the
member countries to "strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the
rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms."
The signing of the Charter, which came at the close of the regional leaders'
summit yesterday afternoon, ended a long search for consensus on a document
committing all ASEAN member-countries to a legal, institutional framework.
"The fact that ASEAN has signed a Charter that is legally binding and that
will create a more powerful regional bloc is an important milestone in the
history of our region," the President said.
"It sends a signal that ASEAN nations are determined to play a larger, more
strategic role to move our region and each member nation forward," she
added.
(full
story) released 21 Nov 2007 |
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