President Benigno Aquino III MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU
MANILA, Philippines—A meeting with the Filipino community is the first thing on President Benigno Aquino’s schedule when he flies to Laos Sunday for the 9th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM).
Some 300 members of the relatively small Filipino community in Laos will welcome Aquino when he arrives in the country’s capital, Vientiane, the Department for Foreign Affairs said.
As of December 2011, there were 556 Filipinos in Laos, most of them working as consultants in United Nations agencies and international NGOs, engineers in mining and hydropower projects, English-language teachers, accountants, and office workers.
Members of the Filipino community said they were eager to meet with the Filipino chief executive, but Roselie Mabunga, head teacher at the Panyathip International School, said she wished that the President would visit Laos more often to tell them that they have not been left alone, according to a Malacañang statement.
Leodia Pagunsan, director of the Sangdara International Bilingual School, likened the forthcoming meeting with the President to a child receiving a visit from a father after being gone from home for a long time.
“We will be so happy to meet him because he is the father of our nation,” Pagunsan was quoted as saying.
The Palace news release reported businessman Ashmad Hiya Hiya, who owns a restaurant and guest house called “Bahay Pinoy,” as saying he was looking forward to meeting the President and hoped he would continue with how he runs the government.
At the ASEM, to be held from November 5 to 6, Aquino will call for the upholding of migrant workers’ rights amid economic hardships, push for improved partnership between Asia and Europe to boost the two continents’ economic standing, and seek stronger support for the Bangsamoro.
Mr. Aquino’s attendance at the ASEM is intended to boost economic and political ties with Europe region and to explore new partnerships and areas of cooperation. A new Philippine initiative on disaster management is expected to be announced.
On the sidelines of the ASEM, the President will hold talks with each of six European leaders to tackle a variety of issues, including human rights, disaster risk reduction, and labor and economic concerns, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Buensuceso said in an earlier statement.
This is the first time that the President is attending the ASEM. He cancelled his participation in the last ASEM in 2010 held in Brussels, Belgium.
Aquino will hold talks with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on the Philippines’ progress in addressing the EU’s concerns about the country’s maritime training and certification system as well as compliance with air safety standards.
He is also scheduled to meet with Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to discuss the Human Rights Compensation Bill, cooperation in disaster risk reduction and management, and economic cooperation.
Another meeting has been scheduled with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to tackle defense and finance, while the meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jen Stoltenberg would focus on Norway’s role in the country’s peace processes and on boosting bilateral maritime and labor cooperation.
With Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Aquino is to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the areas of defense and higher education.
Buensuceso noted that political ties between Europe and the Philippines have been strong, pointing out that the EU is a member of the International Monitoring Team of the GPH-MILF Peace Process, while the United Kingdom is a member of the International Contact Group in the same peace undertaking.
She noted that Norway was facilitating the now-stalled peace talks between the Philippine government and communist rebels.
The Philippines’ European partners were also among the first who threw their support behind the government’s framework agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is hoped would pave the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao in the place of what is now known as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“The President will seize the opportunity provided by ASEM to engage relevant European partners in order to firm up support for the development of the Bangsamoro,” she said.
The Philippines also intends to seek new investments from Russia, Finland and Spain.
Europe is the Philippines’ third largest trade partner after North America and Asia. Trade with Europe amounted to $13 billion in 2011, while investments from EU amounted to P33.3 billion.
The President is also scheduled to participate in the discussion on migration, where he will talk about the importance of upholding migrant workers’ rights amid economic hardships in host countries. There are some 746,701 Filipino workers in Europe.
The ASEM is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation meant to forge a comprehensive partnership between Asia and Europe. It was created in 1996 and is the only forum where Europe and Asia engage one another at the highest levels of government to discuss international issues and agree to cooperate on a region to region basis.
The theme for this year’s meeting is “Friends for Peace, Partners for Prosperity.” ASEM leaders are expected to discuss the Eurozone crisis, trade and investments, energy and food security, disaster management, counter-terrorism, migration, and regional issues.