THE PHILIPPINES is a model of nationhood.
That’s according to former Timor-Leste president Jose Ramos-Horta.
Mr. Ramos-Horta, who also won a Nobel Peace Prize (with fellow Timorese, Roman Catholic bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo) in 1996, said he looks to the Philippines for inspiration.
“I don’t know whether the Philippines has anything to learn [from us].... If anything, the Philippines is very inspiring to us,” Mr. Ramos-Horta told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the two-day Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility which began on Tuesday.
Mr. Ramos-Horta was the keynote speaker in that conference, whose theme, “Building Resilient Communities,” is echoed by Timor-Leste’s own narrative.
During the interview, Mr. Ramos-Horta also looked back to another distinct chapter in modern history -- “the fall of a dictatorship [and] the People Power Movement in the Philippines,” which he said “inspired us tremendously.”
Mr. Ramos-Horta also commended the Philippine government for entering into a final peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front called the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro five months ago.
NEW NATION
There are parallels between the quest for self-determination among Muslim Filipinos and the rocky road to nationhood for the predominantly Catholic Timorese -- whose rejection of Indonesian rule in a 1999 referendum provoked a violent backlash that finally led to the intercession of UN peace-keepers.
After 25 years of Indonesian occupation in which an estimated 100,000 Timorese died, Timor-Leste achieved independence in 2002 -- “the first new nation of the [21st] century,” said BBC.
“Fourteen years ago, we started literally from the ashes,” Mr. Ramos-Horta said in his speech, as he looked back to the tumultuous events of 1989 to 2000 in Timor-Leste.
“There was no rule of law, no functioning ports, no private sector, no electricity... To illustrate the destruction, 95% of schools were destroyed in ’99,” he said.
“Much has been achieved since then and much is still to be achieved.”
After its bloody experience with occupation, Timor-Leste had to rely much on foreign assistance, primarily by the UN (where he now serves as an envoy). Mr. Ramos-Horta had the surprising candor to point out that some of the aid were misdirected.
“I would urge donor countries [and] development partner-countries to focus more.... on sustainable rural development,” he said in his interview with BusinessWorld.
This means not so much physical infrastructures as “bringing clean water and renewable energy, health care, basic education to the... disenfranchised people, because that’s where poverty lies.”
Mr. Ramos-Horta also candidly recommended that aid be spent “less on studies and evaluations, because many of the donor countries, they waste so much money on [these studies].”
MEMBERSHIP
In the forum and in this interview, Mr. Ramos-Horta took the opportunity to highlight his country’s bid, since 2011, to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The organization, once derided as a dictators’ club, has been criticized for this delay in the nation’s membership -- which Laos and Singapore, in particular, are opposing.
On the other hand, Indonesia supports Timor-Leste’s bid for membership, as Mr. Ramos-Horta himself noted. In recent years, both countries have taken steps toward reconciliation.
As he talked about ASEAN, Mr. Ramos-Horta again showed a candor that also befits his background in the Timorese resistance.
“Is ASEAN a community of traders, of shipping, or a community of peoples with values -- values of solidarity, helping each other by bridging the social-economic divide? If ASEAN is a community of peoples with values, then ASEAN should have [accepted] Timor-Leste right away, many years ago,” he said.
Mr. Ramos-Horta also said the requirements for membership in the European Union and African Union are not too rigid.
“In ASEAN, it seems that one should be [like] Singapore and then [you’ll be able] to join,” he said.
“If Indonesia actively supports [our membership], then why would anyone oppose?”
But all things considered, Mr. Ramos-Horta said he is confident that Timor-Leste will be a member of ASEAN by 2015.
source: Businessworld
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