MAAARING pahintulutan ng mga estadong miyembro ng Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ang pakikibahagi ng mamamayan nito sa proseso ng pagdedesisyon at pagpapatupad ng mga plano at programa upang tiyaking sila ang makikinabang sa pagkakabuklod sa rehiyon.

“The question of engaging people of ASEAN requires that they be consulted, be asked about what it is that they need,” sinabi ni Professor Herman Joseph Kraft, ng University of the Philippines (UP) Political Science Department, sa isang forum.

Sinabi ni Kraft na maaaring kumilos ang ASEAN sa lokal na antas, nangangahulugang ang mga kasunduan at hangarin ng ASEAN para sa rehiyon ay maaaring pangasiwaan ng mga gobyerno sa lokal na antas.

“What is clear is that ASEAN works best when there are actually some engagement taking place between some representatives of the people and the government themselves. I agree with the idea that there has to be some notion of finding out from the people their own sense how it is they would engage with ASEAN, what they can actually take from ASEAN,” aniya.

Ayon kay Kraft, tumatalima ang ASEAN regional grouping sa isang top-down approach, nang ang pagpapasya sa mahahalagang usapin ay ginagawa nang sama-sama at hindi lamang ng mga pinuno ng ASEAN.

Kinikilala ni Wilfredo Awitan, assistant professor sa UP Diliman Department of Community Development, ang top-down approach, bagamat macroeconomic ang pananaw na ito.

“If you do that kind of top-down process, the question is how the least and the last will benefit.That is why from the discipline where I came from, we are aiming for bottoms-up,” sinabi ni Awitan sa isang panayam.

Sinabi ni Awitan na mayroong mga civil society organization na kinikilala bilang bahagi ng konsultasyon at pagtutulungan sa ASEAN.

Sa kanyang panig, sinabi ni Civil Service Commission Chairperson Alicia dela Rosa Bala na mayroong sariling mga mekanismo at inisyatibo ang ASEAN para sa mga bata, kabataan, kababaihan at iba pang sektor.

“While at the regional level these are the visions but what it makes it filter down is how does specific country-member would translate those principles at the local level? Therefore, that’s the very reason why that we really need to have a strong and more effective strategy of making people’s voices heard,” sabi ng hepe ng Civil Service Commission. - PNA