Philippines, Spain ink 5 agreements

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and Spain have signed five agreements aimed at boosting the two countries’ relations in sports, culture, and education, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.

The agreements were the results of the first meeting of the Philippines-Spain Joint Standing Committee (JSC) held in Manila on October 23, the DFA said in a statement.

“They welcomed the signing of several agreements pertaining to the promotion of the Spanish language and culture in the Philippines, on the mutual recognition of higher education studies and academic degrees, and on sports cooperation,” it said.

It noted that among the agreements signed were:

• Agreement of Collaboration on the Mutual Recognition of Higher Education Studies and Academic Programs between the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of the Philippines and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain;
• Memorandum of Understanding for the Improvement and Promotion of Spanish Language and Culture Teaching between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, the Cervantes Institute, and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development;
• Sports Cooperation Programme between the Philippine Sports Commission and the High Council for Sport of Spain;
• Agreement of Collaboration between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of the Kingdom of Spain, the Cervantes Institute, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development; and
• Agreement of Collaboration between the Philippine Normal University (PNU) and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain, the Cervantes Institute, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development for the development of the promotion, teaching and learning of the Spanish language in the Philippines

The Philippine delegation was headed by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Elizabeth Buensuceso and other senior officials from the Department of Education , National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Philippine Normal University, National Museum, National Archives, Philippine Sports Commission, and the Information and Communications Technology Office.

The Spanish delegation was led by  Miren Itziar Taboada, director for Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.