Reuters-Philippines pushes Myanmar

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Philippines pushes Myanmar for more reforms 
06:47 a.m. Aug 15, 1998 Eastern 

MANILA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Philippine government said on Saturday said
it hoped Myanmar would take more positive steps to ease political tension
there after the release of 18 activists. 

A Myanmar court on Friday ordered the release of 18 foreign activists after
sentencing them to five years in jail with labour. 

Reports from Myanmar said the court received a letter from the Ministry of
Home Affairs instructing it to release the prisoners to promote good
relations between Myanmar and the countries the activists came from. 

The activists were detained on August 9 after handing out thousands of
leaflets calling on the people of Myanmar to remember an uprising against
the military 10 years ago. 

``We are gratified than Myanmar took positive action with respect to this
case and we hope that similar positive action could be taken with respect
to other pressing matters confronting the government there,'' Foreign
Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon said in a statement. 

Myanmar, whose military government's human rights record has been widely
criticised, was accepted as a member of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) only last year despite objections from Western countries. 

The 18 activists include six Americans, three Thais, three Malaysians,
three Indonesians, two Filipinos and an Australian. 

The two Filipino activists, Ponciano Resuena and Ellene Sana, were
scheduled to fly to Manila from Bangkok at 7 p.m. (1100 GMT). 

Philippine ambassador to Myanmar Sonia Cataumber Brady said in a statement
Myanmar authorities ordered the expulsion of the activists on condition
that they did not violate the country's laws again. 

``If they were to return to Myanmar in the future and violate their laws,
they would serve not only the sentence that would be imposed upon them for
the new violation but also the original sentence condoned last night,''
Brady said. 

Brady also said Myanmar authorities treated the activists very well during
their detention. ``There's no question about that, they were all treated
very well.'' 

Apart from Myanmar, ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand,
Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Laos and Vietnam.