President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada and the nine other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss measures aimed at forging closer political and security ties in the region by tapping existing processes and mechanisms when they meet Sunday for the 3rd , ASEAN Informal Summit.

Undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr. of the Department of Foreign Affairs said ASEAN member countries are inclined to support the concept of stronger political and security cooperation in East Asia that will complement the much broader ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), instead of establishing new mechanisms to achieve this goal.

Baja, however, said that an agreement on the establishment of a new forum focusing solely on security and political concerns in East Asia may be discussed later by ASEAN officials.

He said that at the end of the summit, the ASEAN leaders are expected to issue a Joint Statement on East .Asia Cooperation that will encompass the political, economic, financial and social aspects of regional collaboration.

"The joint statement will say that we will utilize existing mechanisms or processes but the possibility of establishing a forum for East Asian cooperation, if subsequently warranted by future developments, should not be discounted, " Baja said.

He pointed out that unlike in the area of regional economic and financial cooperation, where there has been significant progress,

ASEAN appears " to have been hesitant to initiate political and security discussions."

"This is what we are trying to evolve. More or less a parallel treatment of political and security matters in symmetry with economic and financial issues," Baja said.

East Asian nations to help ensure peace and stability in the region, as he noted several areas of concern that need to a ddressed, such as the South China Sea dispute and missile development in the Korean Peninsula.

Baja said that if a new East Asia forum evolves from future discussions by ASEAN officials on this issue, it would have to complement ARF, whose broad6r membership includes, among others, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.