With Manila as Asean chair, Duterte’s concerns at home could creep into regional agenda

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on crime and his concern for the welfare of overseas Filipino workers are policy priorities of his administration and these concerns look set to creep into the Association of South-east Asian Nations’ (Asean) agenda this year when Manila chairs the grouping.

These issues are not new to the Asean agenda, especially since the draft Asean instrument on the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights is expected to be finalised by April, after years on negotiations.

While the Philippines has pledged to uphold Asean’s unity, and initiate and enhance cooperation with global partners, analysts believe the mercurial head of state will take the opportunity to highlight his pet topics during its one-year chairmanship.

“Given Duterte’s personal priorities in his administration, it is possible that he will focus on proposals for a drug-free Asean to complement his domestic anti-drug campaign, strengthening key economic activities and addressing violent extremism or terrorism,” said Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines.

Mr Duterte’s war on drugs since he took office in June has seen more than 4,000 people killed, with the United Nations, the European Union and rights groups raising concerns about alleged extrajudicial killings and a breakdown in the rule of law.

The president, however, had repeatedly defended his crackdown, insisting that he has not done anything illegal.

Former Philippines ambassador and foreign affairs undersecretary Lauro Baja Junior ha said that the Asean chairmanship will give Mr Duterte a platform to explain the drugs crackdown.

This will be the third time Philippines is heading the 10-member grouping, the first being in 1987 under former President Corey Aquino and then in 2007, when Ms Gloria Arroyo was President. The Asean chairmanship rotates annually among member states according to alphabetical order. The Philippines will be taking over from Laos. Singapore is the next Asean chair in 2018.

Another topic that the Philippines is expected to take up is enhanced protection for migrant workers. The Philippines has some 2.4 million citizens working abroad, and a sizeable number work in Asean countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

“I think this issue of migrant labour rights will largely be pursued by the Philippines at the bilateral level with key destination countries,” said Dr Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.

This may see the Philippines leveraging on Asean to champion the welfare causes of its citizens, especially those working outside the South-east Asian region.

This affects less-skilled workers, whose number have declined relative to the more skilled ones, who have been deployed elsewhere, and those who fall victim to changing host country employment policies, said Prof Federico M Macaranas, chairman of the Asian Institute of Management.

“Asean has to have a unified stand on many issues protecting the rights of overseas workers under international covenants and host-country laws,” he said.