OPAPP launched "Bike for Peace" in Cotabato City

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ASEAN Gala celebration to showcase best of PH arts, culture

FLAGS FLY HIGH. Flags of ASEAN member states and other nations participating in the 31st ASEAN Summit are flown in front of the convention center in Clark, Pampanga, where the Senior Officials Meetings will be held. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA — The Philippines will hold the Special Gala Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday, November 12.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will host the ASEAN leaders and dialogue partner leaders and their spouses and respective delegates.

T
he gala celebration, which will showcase the best of Filipino artistry and talent through an evening of outstanding local music, dance, design, and culinary arts, will be held at SMX Convention Center. It will begin with a welcome message and toast from President Duterte.

The ASEAN leaders and dialogue partners and their spouses will wear an intricately-designed Philippine national costume.

"Embroidered piña cocoon Barong Tagalog, designed by one of the country's top fashion designers Albert Andrada, will be worn by males," the President’s Social Secretary Annalyn Tolentino said.

Each barong, she added, is named after distinct Filipino qualities such as "magiting", "magiliw", "marangal", "mapayapa", "magalang", among others. The ASEAN logo is also shown through the garment's customized buttons, found in the center front and cuffs.

On the other hand, elegant Filipiniana attire, designed by well-known Filipino designers Rajo Laurel, Albert Andrada, and Randy Ortiz, will be worn by the leaders' spouses. It has a design theme inspired by the three major Philippine islands: "terno" made of high-quality poly Thai silk for Luzon, "baro't saya" made of piña cocoon for the Visayas, and a Mindanao-inspired garment made of piña cloth and special fabric.

"President Duterte's attire will be the same as the leaders' as designed by Andrada, while his partner Madame Honeylet Avanceña will be wearing her own Filipiniana garment," Tolentino disclosed.

Guests will be treated to a four-course Filipino-Asian fusion menu, curated and prepared by Chef Jessie Sincioco and Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, while sounds of the big band era will fill the ballroom. Two soloists will also serenade the guests as dinner commences.

The celebration will have a three-part program of music, dance, and songs dubbed as "Bravo, ASEAN!"

An orchestra, a marching band, a rock band, and soloists will welcome the leaders and delegates to the country with the iconic Original Pilipino Music (OPM) "Manila."

Five different dance forms—ballet, folk, ballroom, tap, and contemporary—will also be performed, signifying 50 years of regional diversity and partnership, while jubilant music will be sung.

Prior to the gala celebration, a welcome fanfare will await leaders and delegates as they will be led to the site of five of the world-renowned giant lanterns of San Fernando, Pampanga, representing 50 years of ASEAN.

Spouses to tour ASEAN exhibition at CCP

Meanwhile, spouses of the leaders attending the ASEAN Summit in Manila will be treated to a tour of an exhibition that will showcase the organization's golden year as an interconnected region.

In celebration of ASEAN's 50th founding anniversary, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is presenting “ASEAN at 50: Power as Flow,” a show of artifacts, images, and texts featuring the history of the Southeast Asian people who, for the past years, have excelled in trade, art, and culture.

The spouses of international leaders visiting the country will attend a guided tour of the exhibition on November 13 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Little Theater, where they will get a glimpse of ASEAN's vast goals.

The exhibition will highlight the organization’s plans to sustain the region’s water resources, from proper management through reservoirs and other hydrological infrastructures to the protection of its marine species and ecosystems.

The NCCA will lead the event, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and with the assistance of CulturAid Inc. and the CCP.

Museum and exhibition development corporation TAO Inc founder Marian Pastor-Roces and cultural stalwart Cora Alvina will guide the spouses during the tour.

A Spouses Luncheon will then take place at the historic Manila Hotel, where guests will be treated to a four-course Filipino menu to be prepared by the hotel’s executive chef Konrad Walter.

A fashion show by Randy Ortiz, entitled "Manila Wear," will also be staged during the luncheon to entertain the guests.

"Madame Honeylet will give boxes of world-renowned chocolate produced in Malagos, Davao City as her personal token to the spouses of the leaders," Tolentino said. (PCO-Content)

Ministers, officials hold preparatory meets for ASEAN Summit

CLARK, Pampanga -- Ministers and senior officials of the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are holding a series of preparatory meetings here from Nov. 10 to 11 for the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Manila next week.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to ASEAN kicked off the meetings at the ASEAN Convention Center in Clark on Friday morning.

The ASEAN Senior Economic Officials’ Preparatory Meeting (Prep-SEOM) also took place here Friday, to gear up for the meetings of the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) in Manila on Nov.12.  

At the same time, the Senior Economic Officials (SEO) from China, Japan, and South Korea are joining the ASEAN SEOM for the Prep-SEOM Plus Three Consultations also here Friday.

The economic ministers are expected to meet next week for the Preparatory Meeting of the AEM, the15th ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the Preparatory Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Ministerial Meeting (Prep-RCEP MM), where they will be joined by economic ministers from Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Korea, and India.

Among the highlights of the Philippine chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit is the ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA), which will be signed on Sunday. Hong Kong will be ASEAN’s seventh economy with the free trade deal.

In 2015, ASEAN was Hong Kong’s second largest trading partner, while Hong Kong was the seventh largest trading partner for the region.

On Saturday, the ASEAN Senior Officials and the RCEP Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) will hold their respective Preparatory Meetings.

The ASEAN-led RCEP are pushing for significant outcomes this year for the new free trade bloc.

The 16 participating countries of the RCEP account for 30 percent of the global economy and almost half of the world’s population. (PNA)

Sulu Circumferential roads boost the living condition of Parang Municipality - Engineer Abdulmunir Hadjirul

Jolo, Sulu - The Department of Public Works and Highways, Sulu 1st Engineering District Engineer Abdulmunir I. Hadjirul together with Assemblyman Hanibal  Tulawie   conducted  project  survey at Parang Municipality regarding the on-going construction of circumferential roads last October.

The said circumferential roads is one of the flagship projects of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao under Governor Mujiv Hataman thru the effort of Secretary Mustapha "Don" Loong of the said department.

During the survey, Hadjirul said that his department together with  his engineers  has  doubled their times and efforts to give a full blast implementation and for the early completion of the said projects.

Hadjirul personally manned the projects even though the peace and order isn't  yet stable because he wants to serve the people of Sulu by doing good to implement the projects of the government by all cause.

Assemblyman Hanibal Tulawie also said, that  this project of the Autonomous Region or ARMM boosting the living condition of the people here and it pave the way for development. "I am very thankful that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao respond immediately the needs of the people more particular the farm-to-market roads, school buildings, water systems, sea wall, ports and even small problems of every municipalities has totally heard and implemented",  Tulawie said during the survey.

Sulu  DPWH 1st Engineering Districts Engineers headed by District Engineer Abdulmunir I. Hadjirul, ADE, Engineer Ajan Ajijul  together with Assemblyman Hanibal Tulawie of ARMM posed during the circumferential road inspection last October 25, 2017 in Parang, Sulu.

The Parang Circumferential roads connecting to other municipalities were almost done or finish.

It is a big help to the residents here because they can easily transport their products to the market in a short span of time with a very affordable fare, said Abdulkarim, a resident of Parang Municipality. 

"Masaya kami na taga Parang, dahil nagkaroon na kami ng maganda at malapad na kalsada na ginawa ng DPWH dito, madali kami makapunta sa Jolo para magbenta ng aming mga produkto sa mababang pamasahe, at sa ngayon medyo umangat ang aming pamumuhay", Abdulkarim said in his own language during the interview.

Meanwhile, District Engineer Abdulmunir Hadjirul also added that the  projects implemented of his district enhance the living condition of the people here . "From arm to farm" instead of fighting the government", they helps  the government by farming because of a good road conditions and more instant projects  from the government considering it could help the people here. (By: Becky D. de Asis)