Noynoy, ASEAN envoys meet; Suu Kyi not tackled

(Updated 9:18 p.m.) Nine representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries on Thursday visited President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III in his Quezon City home, but the detention of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was not discussed. Aquino, at a press briefing, said this was to prevent tension in his house and also a way of extending courtesy to the foreign visitors. "I think I made a lot of pronouncements regarding that aspect especially as a member of the legislature. But I think we should be courteous to our visitors at this time and not go into a confrontation with them, especially if they are guests in our house," said Aquino son of democracy icons Corazon “Cory" Aquino and Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr. The nine envoys joined Aquino at the press briefing. The Philippine government has repeatedly appealed to Myanmar’s military junta to free Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years. Suu Kyi was also barred from participating in Myanmar’s upcoming elections, the first in two decades. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s party, the National League for Democracy, is boycotting the elections. In their summit last April, the ASEAN leaders’ 13-page formal statement called for credible elections in Myanmar. "We underscored the importance of national reconciliation in Myanmar and the holding of the general election in a free, fair and inclusive manner, thus contributing to Myanmar's stability and development," the statement read. In Manila, Aquino asked for “a little time" before he could issue an official statement regarding Suu Kyi, pointing out that he has yet to assume office. His inauguration as president is set on June 30. Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Khin Soe was present at the meeting. Among those in attendance were Brunei Darussalam Ambassador Malai Hajah Halimah Malai Yussof, Cambodia charges d'affaires Tith Sarunreth, Indonesia Ambassador Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo, Laos Ambassador Leuane Sombounkhan, Malaysia charges d'affairs Dato Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad, Singapore Ambassador A. Selverajah, Thailand Ambassador Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhya, and Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tu. Aquino said there was no deliberate attempt to exclude any topic from the discussion. "This was the first meeting, there are so many things that are happening in the world in general, but more specifically the growth of the ASEAN bloc. And the initial step has to be make sure that is the priority," he said. He said issues like changing policies in terms of investor inducements was discussed, although details were not threshed out in the hour-long meeting. Aquino said he would "most probably" attend the next ASEAN summit given its importance, as well as future official meetings with officials of the United States and the European Union, among others. Aquino meets with Latin American ambassadors After his meeting with the ASEAN envoys, Aquino met with more ambassadors from Latin America. "We do share a lot in terms even of history. We were all colonized by Spain or Portugal. We’ve had problems during the height of the Cold War…Perhaps we can share from each other’s experience to really advance and not reinvent the wheel, not to make the same mistakes," Aquino said. The president-elect said they also exchanged suggestions on how to improve the economy like being more friendly to the foreign community and clarifying procedures. They also discussed the ethanol program in Brazil, which Aquino described as "a very mature industry." "We understand we’ll be sending a delegation for geothermal. I think we are the second after Italy that has exploited geothermal as a resource," he said, adding that they also talked about jatropha as a potential source for renewable energy development. Among those present were Brazil Ambassador Alcides Gastao Rostand Prates, Chile Ambassador Ovid Haraisch, Mexican States Ambassador Tomas Javier Calvillo Unna, Panama Ambassador Ivan Javier Crespo, Argentina Ambassador Daniel Joaquin Otero, Colombia charge d’affaires Stella Marquez de Araneta, Venezuela charge d’affaires Manuel Perez Iturbe, and Cuba charge d’affaires Enna Viant Valdes. - KBK, RSJ, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV