Senator Grace Poe FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Senator Grace Poe expressed elation on Friday after she was chosen as the 3rd Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellow (LKYEF) from the Philippines and 46th from the world since the program started.
“I deeply value the immersion and exchanges this important program guaranteed toward sustaining Philippine efforts to fortify transparent governance and extinguish corruption,” Poe, who attended the nine-day LKYEF program in Singapore, said in a statement.
The senator and earlier fellows were chosen by the LKYEF program based on their track record and extraordinary potential to contribute to the development of their nations.
The program chooses only two individuals from all over the world every year.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who welcomed Poe during her courtesy call at the Istana, recognized the growth of the Philippines under the Aquino administration.
The senator met with Foreign Affairs and Law Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam, who discussed Singapore’s efforts to become a neutral third party venue for international commercial dispute resolution, backed by competent governance.
She was briefed by Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau Director Wong Hong Kuan on Singapore’s anti-corruption efforts.
Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau also briefed the senator on measures undertaken by the government to substantially minimize dangerous drug problems.
Singapore’s anti-drug program is not simply geared toward punitive approaches but also on rehabilitation and partnership with families and non-governmental organizations to address the challenge, the senator’s office said in the same statement.
Poe also visited Guangyang Primary School in the capital where she was welcomed by school children, including Filipinos.
The Singaporean government subsidizes education, giving full scholarships to deserving poor students as well as free meals in schools.
Poe has been pushing for the institutionalization of a free lunch program for children in public schools to prepare and empower the country’s human resource assets in pursuit of inclusive growth.
During her visit to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College (equivalent to the Philippines’ Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), officials discussed the school’s programs, particularly the “vertical transportation” courses in support of industry needs. ITE currently has 101 courses in 11 sectors.