Source: Inquirer.net

BRUSSELS, Belgium—The European Union “felt very bad” when President Benigno Aquino III cancelled his attendance to the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) of summit, Akbayan party-list Representative Walden Bello told civil society groups here Saturday.

At the start of the Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF), Bello said European ambassadors to the Philippines expressed their disappointment at Aquino’s decision, which coming around the time of the President’s trip to Washington DC tells “how Europe is regarded in the Philippines…(and that) Washington is more important than Brussels.”

Bello said that while Asem is “just a talk shop (where) very little processes and structures (are created),” it is an opportunity for non-government organizations in Europe and Asia to network across continents on issues including migrants’ and women’s rights.

But Christine Ebro, Asia coordinator for AEPF, stressed that Asem, while a non-binding formation, is “strategic because (it) sets the tone and direction of Europe-Asia relations.”

Ebro noted that Asem as well as its parallel civil society summit of AEPF represents some 58 percent of the world’s population, 50 percent of global GDP, and over 60 percent of international trade.

Aquino was also slated to meet with Filipino migrant leaders in Europe before he cancelled the trip. In a press conference in Manila, AEPF’s Corazon Fabros said this is the first instance since Asem was created in 1996 that a Philippine president passed on the chance to attend it.

According to its briefer, AEPF is a forum for dialogue between European and Asian partners about major political, economic, financial, and socio-cultural issues.