By Roy Mabasa

Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has chided his Filipino counterpart, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., for voting a Chinese candidate instead of supporting an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bet from Singapore during the just-concluded election for the post of Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.

“I have always admired your transparency. But must say that I hope you will stand by your friends and partners in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with the same vigor. This is a crucial time to keep ASEAN united,” Balakrishnan said in a tweet on Thursday night in response to an earlier post by Locsin announcing his vote at the WIPO elections, a United Nations-backed agency headquartered in Switzerland.

During the March 4 WIPO election, Singapore’s Intellectual Property Chief Executive Daren Tang garnered 55 votes against the Chinese candidate’s 28 votes to capture the nomination for the WIPO Director General post whose six-year term will start on October 1, 2020.

Tang will replace Australian Francis Gurry who will step down by the end of September after 12 years at the helm. The vote still needs to be confirmed during the agency’s full general assembly in May, but that is traditionally a formality.

Locsin said Singapore’s victory was “under strong Western pressure.”

“I voted China to the very end. Am like that. I stood with US (United States) isolated on an issue. Friend in need is friend indeed. 1 of 28 is better than 1 of 55 when shit hits the fan,” the DFA secretary explained in his tweet.

In justifying his vote, Locsin admitted that some in ASEAN “lacked alacrity” in supporting the Philippines when it was faced with the Iceland-backed UN resolution calling for an investigation on extrajudicial killings in the country.

“And some in ASEAN lacked alacrity in expressing support for the Philippines and opposition to the Iceland Resolution though all did after the vote. Hard to forget some things. I’m just human,” he said.

On ASEAN unity, Locsin said he has shown his “steadfast commitment” to the regional block on crucial issues like Myanmar, adding that he did not see WIPO as an ASEAN issue.

“That’s ASEAN unity when one is beleaguered,” Locsin said in a separate tweet.

The DFA secretary admitted that originally, he committed his vote to Japan twice but the latter backed out.

“After it backed out China asked for my vote in Laos. US called just before yesterday,” he said.

WIPO is a UN specialized agency that promotes the protection of intellectual property around the world. It has more than 190 countries as members. (With a report from AFP)