Filipino lawmaker urges ASEAN action

MANILA, Philippines, May 10 (UPI) -- A Filipino political leader has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to intervene to allow food and relief aid into Myanmar.

Philippine Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan Saturday urged ASEAN to take measures to convince Myanmar's military government to allow United Nations relief workers and other volunteers to help the nation cope with the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

"The current impasse is unacceptable and ASEAN should exercise quiet yet firm and unwavering diplomacy to help end this impasse and begin the free low of aid to the devastated," Pangilinan said in a news release.

The United Nations suspended relief operations after the government of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, refused to allow the entry of foreign personnel to help in the humanitarian crisis created by the cyclone, in which at 62,000 people have been listed as killed or missing.