The approval of the ASEAN charter paved the way for the creation of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR), a body which would optimize regional coordination among ASEAN member-states.

Last March, President Arroyo appointed former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado as the Philippine envoy to the CPR. He will serve for three years as the country’s first representative to the CPR, which is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Purple S. Romero, reporter of abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak sat down with him at the sidelines of the 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Phuket, Thailand where he talked about the challenges confronting the new ASEAN mechanism.

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Q. How would the CPR fit into the dynamics of ASEAN community-building?

A. The CPR has a slew of functions which involve the monitoring of the implementation of agreements the region entered into with our dialogue partners. The delineation of functions between the director-generals (DG) and the CPR is that the DGs oversee the national implementation of agreements while the CPR is tasked to have a continuous presence and be engaged in the day-to-day supervision of budget review and the creation of critical offices in ASEAN.

Q. What signals does the establishment of the CPR convey to the international community?

A. The first CPR was set up with ASEAN’s ultimate objective to shift from a consensus-based body to a rules-based body.

Q. This is precisely the character of the European Union (EU).

A. There are similarities to the EU. EU has a long history of nationhood.  It is an inspiration, but it is not the model.

Q. Analysts point out that ASEAN’s principle of non-interference stymies its movement towards becoming a rules-based community.

A. It’s [rules-based system] been a decision already of the ASEAN. It’s very clear in the [ASEAN] charter that it aims to be rules-based. If they want to keep it as it was in 1967, there is no need for a charter.

Q. What challenges have you encountered as the Philippine representative to the CPR?

A. I should judge myself by what I’ve done to create the ASEAN community. That’s the overarching objective: to strengthen this nascent community by 2015. We have to do that over-and-above the fact that we are setting up shop. The pace of work in ASEAN is frenetic. We have to look for an office, but my team is almost complete, I’m only waiting for my No. 2 man. You cannot stop the clock.

Q. The CPR will officially be operationalized in this meeting. What are its immediate targets?

A. We are approving the rules of procedure and the work plan for 2009-2010.

Q. Before becoming the permanent representative to ASEAN, you were first appointed as the ambassador to China. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada blocked that appointment. He reportedly said that your record as defense secretary raises questions about your capacity to serve in another position.

A. I’m used to it. That’s how politics goes. I try to not be subjective about it.