I have just signed the ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the Agreement for the Establishment of an ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] Secretariat.
We are the first member to ratify the two documents.
I also issued instructions to Sec. [Carlos] Romulo on his trip to the U.S. on the negotiations on the military agreements: “Explain to Pres. [Gerald] Ford and Sec. [Henry] Kissinger that we intend to take an active part in the Third World conferences in its drive for a new world economic order; that we can be a bridge between the US and the developing countries because we represent the moderates with a concrete plan to bring about a rapprochement; but we cannot act as such bridge if we are not credible as a free agent. So we have to wipe out the vestiges of the pre-Vietnam commitments. The Foreign Secretary or Minister of North Vietnam successfully kept us out of the Conference of Neutral States last year.
MALACAÑANG