Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today renewed the call of the Philippine Government on Myanmar for the safe release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the members of her political party.

“This is a call that I personally made to Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung when I met with him at the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings in Phnom Penh two weeks ago,” Secretary Ople said.

“Prior to that we had called on the Myanmar Government to allow  UN Special Envoy Razali Ismail to visit Daw Suu Kyi, a call that the Myanmar Government heeded. I hope that they will continue to heed our calls,” he added.

“I understand that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also reiterated his call for the release of Daw Suu Kyi.  I also understand that Ambassador Razali has written to Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Win seeking an explanation as to why the government is still holding Suu Kyi a month after her detention.  It is my hope that the Myanmar Government will respond to these calls,” the Secretary said.

During the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings in Cambodia, the Philippine took the lead in developing consensus behind ASEAN’s unprecedented decision to take a more categorical stand on the issue of Myanmar.

“I am still looking forward to the implementation of our proposal for a number of ASEAN foreign ministers to visit Myanmar to discuss how best to help Myanmar address its stated desires to move faster on achieving democratic reforms.  We will also want to meet with Daw Suu Kyi and like I said in Cambodia, we would prefer to meet her not as a prisoner or a detainee,” the Secretary said. END.