University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2008 The role of the Philippines in the BIMP-EAGA growth triangle and the dynamics of ASEAN political economy Adriana Elisabeth University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Elisabeth, Adriana, The role of the Philippines in the BIMP-EAGA growth triangle and the dynamics of ASEAN political economy, PhD thesis, Department of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 2008. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/52 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: research-pubs@uow.edu.au
THE ROLE OF THE PHILIPPINES IN THE BIMP-EAGA GROWTH TRIANGLE AND THE DYNAMICS OF ASEAN POLITICAL ECONOMY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by ADRIANA ELISABETH, MASTER OF SOCIAL SIENCE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND POLITICS 2008
CERTIFICATION I, Adriana Elisabeth, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Department of History and Politics, University of Wollongong is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Adriana Elisabeth 21 April 2008 i
TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS CERTIFICATION TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES & CHART LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Pages i ii iv v x xii INTRODUCTION 1 Background of Study 1 Research Methodology 15 Key Research Issues 21 CHAPTER I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BIMP-EAGA 31 Regionalism and the Formation of EAGA 35 The Area of EAGA 42 The Aims of EAGA 51 The Structure of EAGA 54 Some Progress in EAGA Activities 56 The Implications of EAGA 59 CHAPTER II. THE GROWTH TRIANGLE AND PHILIPPINE POLITICS 68 Discrimination Policy Against Mindanao 68 Ramos s Political Leadership and BIMP-EAGA 72 Philippine Macro-Economic Policy 87 Philippine Political Culture 90 Religion and Politics in the Philippines 98 Chinese Sub-Culture in the Philippines 101 EAGA and the Mindanao Crisis 104 Military and Politics 112 EAGA: Expectation or Desperation? 115 CHAPTER III. THE PHILIPPINES AND ASEAN RELATIONS 119 The Establishment of ASEAN 120 ASEAN and Previous Regional Associations 123 Problems within ASEAN 127 ASEAN and Its Prospects 139 ASEAN and EAGA 142 Philippine Foreign Policy and ASEAN 144 The Estrada Administration (1990-2001) 152 The US and the Philippines 156 ii
The Arroyo Administration and EAGA 166 Philippines-ASEAN Relations: Some Possible Scenarios 170 CHAPTER IV. BIMP-EAGA AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING 175 Liberalism Capitalism 176 The Interpretation of Global Capitalism in Southeast Asia 179 Progress of EAGA Economic Activities 186 EAGA and Some Exiting Problems 199 1. Export Processing Zones and Growth Triangles 199 2. Corruption and the Vulnerability of EAGA 206 3. Corruption and Poverty 215 Economy and Armed Conflict 217 EAGA and Wider Regional Factors 219 The Role of China 224 The Mindanao 2000 Plan 227 1. Policy Formulation, Aplication, and Coordination 236 2. The Role of Private Sector 237 3. Evaluation and Monitoring Mechanism/Scheme 238 4. The Availability of a Database of EAGA Economic Activities 239 5. The Problem of Migration 239 CHAPTER V. THE FUTURE OF BIMP-EAGA 241 EAGA from an Optimistic Point of View 241 GMA Special Envoy and Agenda for EAGA 243 EAGA from a Pessimistic Point of View 246 1. The Mindanao Armed Conflicts 247 2. Religious Conflicts in Indonesia 249 3. The Regional Approach to Combating Radical Religious Movements 251 The Future Prospects of EAGA 253 CONCLUSION 258 The Decay of EAGA 259 Is EAGA still Relevant? 266 BIBLIOGRAPHY 270 APPENDICES 293 Appendix 1: The List of Respondents 293 Appendix 2: The List of Libraries/Information Center 295 iii
LIST OF TABLE, FIGURE & CHART TABLES Table 1. The Early Action Plan of BIMP-EAGA 45 Table 2. The EAGA Spatial Development Plan 46 Table 3. Poverty Levels in the Philippines (1991-1997) 84 Table 4. Annual per Capita Poverty in the Philippines (1997-2003) 85 Table 5. Poverty Incidence of Families in the Philippines (1997 2003) 86 Table 6. Poverty Incidence of Population in the Philippines (1997 2003) 87 Table 7. ASEAN Member Countries per Capita GDP (US dollars, billions) 1996 & 1999 131 Table 8. ASEAN Member Countries per Capita GDP (US dollars) 2000-2004 132 Table 9. EAGA in the Global Circles 179 Table 10. Policy Implication and EAGA Projects (1994-2006) 187 FIGURES Figure 1. MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES 14 Figure 2. MAP OF THE BIMP-EAGA AREA (before the inclusion of the other Indonesian provinces) 43 Figure 3. MAP OF THE BIMP-EAGA PROVINCES 52 CHARTS Chart 1. The EAGA Development Strategy: Monitor and Review 48 Chart 2. The Structure of EAGA 54 iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACED ADB AFP AFTA AFTA-CER Archdiocesan Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue Asian Development Bank Armed Forces of the Philippines ASEAN Free Trade Area ASEAN Free Trade Area (Australia and New Zealand) Closer Economic Relations AIA AICO AIPO AMC AMM APEC APT ARF ARMM ASA ASEAN ASG BAPPENAS BGF BIMP-EAGA ASEAN Investment Area ASEAN Industrial Cooperation ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Association Area Marketing Cooperative ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN Plus Three ASEAN Regional Forum Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Association of Southeast Asia Association of South East Asian Nations Abu Sayyaf Group Badan Perencanaan dan Pembangunan Nasional Barrio Guarantee Fund Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines - East ASEAN Growth Area CAT Central Azucarera de Tarlac v
CBCP CPP CU EABC EAGA EOI EPZ EU FDI FTAA Catholic Bishop s Conference of the Philippines Communist Party of the Philippines Customs Union EAGA Business Council East Asean Growth Area Export Oriented Industrialisation Export Processing Zone European Union Foreign Direct Investment Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement G-7 Group of 7 GDP GEM GMA GRP GT HRD IACC ICMI I-EAGA IID IMF IMS-GT IMT-GT IRD Gross Domestic Product Growth with Equity in Mindanao Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Government of the Republic of the Philippines Growth Triangle Human Resources Development Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia Indonesia-East ASEAN Growth Area Initiative for International Dialogue International Monetary Fund Indonesia, Malaysia, Singpore Growth Triangle Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle Inter-Religious Dialogues vi
IT ITO JI JPDCI JVA KAPET KEPPRES KPPSI LDC LGC LGU LIPI LPG MAPHILINDO MEF MEDCO MNC MNLF MILF MOA MOU MT NAFTA NCCP NDF Information Technology International Trade Organisation Jemaah Islamiyah Janoub Philippines Development Corp Inc. Joint Venture Agreement Kawasan Pengembangan Ekonomi Terpadu Keputusan Presiden Komisi Persiapan Penerapan Syariah Islam Less Developed Country Local Government Code Local Government Unit Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia Liquid Petroleum Gas Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia Malaysian Employers Federation Mindanao Economic Development Council Multi National Corporation Moro National Liberation Front Moro Islamic Liberation Front Memoranda of Agreement Memoranda of Understanding Metric Tons North American Free Trade Area National Council of Churches in the Philippines National Democratic Front vii
NGO NIC NPA NRM OECD OIC PAL PARECO PCAGC PCGG PCI-Bank P-EAGA PLDT REPELITA RIA RMS SARA SEATO SEC SIJORI SN SOCSARGEN SOMM TAC UN Non Governmental Organisation New Industrialised Country New People s Army New Religious Movement Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Organisation on Islamic Conference Philippine Airlines Presidential Assistant for Regional Concern Presidential Commission Against Graft and Corruption Presidential Commission on Good Government Philippine Commercial International Bank Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Rencana Pembangunan Lima Tahun Regional Integration Agreement Republik Maluku Selatan Suku, Agama, Ras South East Asia Treaty Organisation Security and Exchange Commission Singpore, Johor, Indonesia Samahang Nayon South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos City Senior Officials and Ministers Meeting Treaty of Amity and Cooperation United Nations viii
UR-GATT VFA WB WMC WTO ZOPFAN Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Visiting Forces Agreement World Bank Western Mining Corporation World Trade Organisation Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality ix
Abstract The title of the dissertation is The Role of the Philippines in Growth Triangle and the Dynamics of ASEAN Political Economy. It looks into the role of the Philippines in establishing the first growth quadrangle in South East Asia or the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines - East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA or simply EAGA). There was no EAGA without Philippine enthusiastic in proposing the idea. EAGA became the first sub-regional economic cooperation to back up Philippine national development program; that is the Philippines 2000 and the NIC-hood vision. The establishment of EAGA represented Philippine foreign relations with regional countries, and the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) as the longest running regional association. The relevance of EAGA was in controversy. The affirmative perspective ensured that EAGA was built in economic term to promote trade, investment and tourism for the regional countries, which experienced similar historical of colonialism, and cultural and religious backgrounds. Some achievements have been made through many numbers of working groups meetings, expositions and conferences since the EAGA formation in 1994 until now. On the other hand, the pessimistic perspective highlighted the negative impacts of the EAGA growth quadrangle. The failure of poverty eradication was one of the social impacts. EAGA seems to be more hopeless when indicated to problems, which exist at the national, regional and global levels and related each other. Crony capitalism, interreligious conflicts and process of democracy are major domestic issues that have x
affected the EAGA business activities, besides the Asian Crisis in 1997. The practice of crony capitalism is related to domestic political culture and the influence of market orientation or economic liberalism. Global war against terrorism is another international factor, which affected regional political development. The future of EAGA is clearly dependent on to what extents member countries can cope with their domestic problems. Similar phenomenon happened with ASEAN in which its function as regional economic integration has been subordinated by the dominance of political disputes bilaterally and multilaterally. xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge with gratitude the guidance, encouragement and understanding provided by my supervisors, Professor Adrian Vickers and Dr. Peter Sales throughout the years. My thanks also go to my Australian, Indonesian and Filipino friends for making my research a valuable and rewarding experience. I wish to extent my appreciation and thanks to my mother, Evie and my husband, Tonny, who have provided moral support and patient. Finally, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my lovely daughters, Sandra and Prissy for their continuos care and support. xii