Myanmar lets the sunshine in

President Benigno Aquino III is expected to be back from a three-day visit to Myanmar where he attended the 22nd World Economic Forum (WEF) and basked in international recognition for his anti-corruption drive and the country’s stunning economic performance for the first quarter of the year.

There may be just enough time to catch his breath because aside from seeing to the consolidation of pro-administration forces in both Houses of Congress, he will revise his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in a way that it will intersect with the newest challenge that unfolded in the global meeting.

This is not to say that the President and his Cabinet are not conversant with regional issues facing East Asia and components of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). However, going over the online materials provided by the 22nd WEF media bureau, one can’t help but be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the prospects for change and inclusive growth for Asean, if only the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar would hew more closely to organic best practices and democratic principles.

The World Economic Forum is an “independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agenda,” according to the WEF website.

By this definition, we understand that governments no longer work singly and in isolation to determine the course of their respective countries, but rather, in accord with multi-stakeholders working closely and finding ways to bridge disparities and cross borders to achieve the common goal of a free, just and human society.

On top of this breath-taking assumption which came out of the recent WEF, East Asia and Asean have emerged as the fulcrum for change in the way the world does business. On this score, meeting organizers agreed Myanmar and the Philippines have shown that reforms in response to the people’s aspirations generate economic wellness.

Initially, Yorihiko Kojima, chairman of the board of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. signified his company’s commitment to help Myanmar in the field of infrastructure, agriculture, education and healthcare.

On the other hand, the Philippines pledged to assist Myanmar in ramping up infrastructure, agriculture and energy development.  The recent Philippine investment upgrade will see foreign investments cascading like waterfalls to this part of the world.

This is the reason I pointed out that P-Noy’s national agenda need to be redrawn in the context of East Asia’s unstoppable growth and Asean’s inexorable march to becoming a regional economic power.

The main challenge for the region, especially in countries that have long suppressed democratic traditions or even propped up corrupt practices is, in a manner of speaking to open up and let the sunshine in.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is considered a rogue state after the military junta killed political activists and took over the country in 1947. Close to five decades of illegitimate rule brought the country to economic ruin with people dying of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and anthrax. The grim scenario became even more disturbing because Myanmar became the world’s second largest producer of opium.

But something happened in 1991, when the Nobel Peace Prize committee peered through the iron grill that locked Burmese political opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel award pierced through Myanmar’s illicit rule and prompted military rulers to make concessions for legitimacy, first by joining the regional grouping Asean.

Asean member countries stayed clear of Myanmar’s economic and political turmoil by invoking the principle of non-intervention. In 2007, the group granted the chairmanship of the 12th Asean Summit to Myanmar but the free world objected to it because opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi remained under house arrest.

In the end, the leadership of the 12th Asean Summit fell on the lap of the Philippines and in 2007 world leaders descended in Cebu although Cebuanos mainly remember the event for borloloy lamps that crooked government officials hurriedly installed in Mandaue and Lapu Lapu cities for the meeting.

In any case, Myanmar will finally chair Asean in 2014, the year before the country will hold national elections. The battle will be fought by incumbent President Thein Sein who will be running against Aung San Suu Kyi.

President Sein is a retired military general who used to work in the administrative departments of the military and defense ministry. On the other hand, Suu Kyi is London-educated and steeped in western democratic ideals.

Suu Kyi is married to a Briton who lives abroad together with their two sons. Apparently, the constitutional ban against presidential candidates married to a foreigner, having children residing in foreign countries was specially drafted for Suu Kyi by the military despots of decades past but she is unfazed.

Perhaps she thinks the present leadership could no longer turn off the light on political reforms and eventually agree to open up the country to democratic governance.