Assistant Secretary De La Vega invited the CSO leaders to a dialogue after members of the NOC ACSC/APF, led by Dr. Ed Tadem, Freedom from Debt Coalition President, held a peaceful assembly in front of the DFA to raise their agenda in relation to the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship this year.
01 February 2017 MANILA — Eight (8) representatives of the Philippine National Organizing Committee for the ASEAN Civil Society Conference / ASEAN Peoples’ Forum 2017 (NOC ACSC/APF), a coalition of 67 Philippine civil society organizations (CSOs) involved or have advocacies in ASEAN, met with Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Office of ASEAN Affairs Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen De La Vega at the DFA Building on January 16.
Assistant Secretary De La Vega invited the CSO leaders to a dialogue after members of the NOC ACSC/APF, led by Dr. Ed Tadem, Freedom from Debt Coalition President, held a peaceful assembly in front of the DFA to raise their agenda in relation to the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship this year.
All the eight representatives were given the opportunity to raise their concerns about ASEAN.
Assistant Secretary De La Vega said that the Philippines “always strives to realize a truly people-centered and people-oriented ASEAN because the success of the ASEAN Community is dependent on its peoples, their potential, strengths, inter-connectedness, creativity and resilience.”
“This is the reason why the DFA conducts regular consultations with CSOs. This is also in line with one of the thematic priorities of the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017—people-oriented, people-centered ASEAN,” she added.
The CSO and DFA representatives tied four “tubaws” as a symbolic gesture of their willingness to partner together in moving ASEAN forward. The NOC ACSC/APF later presented its consolidated statement to the DFA.
The NOC ACSC/APF statement underscored, among others, the importance of taking advantage of the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN to showcase the significant role CSOs play in the various ASEAN Member States and in the region.
CSOs conveyed their desire to interface with ASEAN Heads of States and discuss further the six (6) thematic priorities under the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship—all for the realization of a just, equitable, and humane region.
The Philippines, as Chair of ASEAN for 2017, will host more than a hundred meetings in the country including two ASEAN Summits and the 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. Under the Philippine chairmanship, ASEAN will celebrate its 50th founding anniversary.
Similarly, the NOC ACSC/APF informed Assistant Secretary De La Vega of its plan to convene several regional meetings in the Philippines, including regional consultative meetings in Manila in February and November 2017, respectively, as well as an ACSC conference in August. END
Source : www.dfa.gov.ph
