MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Asia's largest security forum will be able to play a more active role in preventing conflicts, officials said Thursday, after members adopted rules for a quick-reaction group to respond to emergencies and a framework on counterterrorism.

Ministers at the 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum adopted operating rules for the rapid-response group, called "Friends of the ARF Chair," and endorsed a Cooperation Framework on Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime.

"Now ARF has a mechanism to perform preventive diplomacy work," said M.C. Abad, an ARF official. "ARF will not just be conference diplomacy. It will have a mechanism to do things that cannot wait for the next meeting."

The cooperation framework, which covers 11 areas including transport security, information exchange and management of the impact of terrorist acts, gives ARF "a comprehensive and coherent program of work in the field of counterterrorism and transnational crimes," he added.

The "Friends of the ARF Chair" -- three foreign ministers who will assist the ARF chairman in dealing with regional and international problems -- is an ad hoc group that will be set up by the ARF chairman for specific tasks, such as in times of emergency and threats to regional peace and stability.

ARF, founded in 1994 by the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been hobbled by the diversity of its members and its consensus-based decision making. Since its birth, it has focused on building trust among its members through dialogue and confidence-building measures. Some have criticized it as doing more talk than action.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong defended the forum, saying ARF participants are diverse "and we therefore have to talk a lot to get our mutual trust."

"Once we get our mutual trust, then we build our projects and programs, and that will not be difficult," he added.

Abad said ARF's measured steps spring from different perceptions of security challenges and therefore different priorities. When solutions are arrived at, there are different capabilities to respond, he added.

"First we must agree on perception, common readings," he said. "This requires continuous consultations, persistence and commitment to find solutions to these challenges."

Ong said the group is just starting to go into preventive diplomacy and hopes to build on experiences in the region, such as in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province and the Philippines' restive southern Mindanao region.

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Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.