Boats bearing the flag of the 10 ASEAN member-states paraded at Burnham Lake late afternoon today to celebrate ASEAN's golden anniversary as an organization (Liza T. Agoot/PNA)
BAGUIO CITY, August 8 -- The historic lighting of the Baguio City hall went as planned despite the rains here on Tuesday afternoon until the evening.
Lantern ights turned on at the tick of the clock marking 7:00 p.m. on the large screen placed below the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) lantern hanging between the two 25-foot high center pillars at the front entrance of the city’s main hall. After lighting the ASEAN lantern, the city hall building subsequently lit up, with the lights interchangeably shifting from yellow, blue, red and white – the regional organization’s color.
The celebration started with hundreds of people trooping around Burnham Lake for the 5 p.m. flotilla event where 10 white swan-design boats carried the ASEAN logo aside from 10 other boats with the flags of the different ASEAN-nation members atop them. Each boat carried a rower and another person wearing the national attire of the member countries – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines.
At the center of the lake was the ASEAN @50 logo and the country’s chairmanship of the golden anniversary of the regional organization.
Police Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas, who was guest speaker during the Baguio Flotilla event, said the Philippines was able to teach the world how to live after the devastation of typhoon “Yolanda”.
Guest speaker, NCRPO Information Officer
Police Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas
She said, “if we teach the world how to live, we can be the best lead for the ASEAN.”
She urged Cordillerans to be knowledgeable about the ASEAN and benefit from it.
“As the Philippines journey in this year’s celebration to welcome the 23 leaders of the world in the country in November, we in the Cordillera should show our support to this effort. I know the young people of the Cordillera will be able to understand the vibrance and the importance of the ASEAN’s efforts. Please build awareness, engage the public, engage people, engage your friends, allow them to understand what the asean effort is all about so that we can become one voice and become a representative that this country deserves to know. “
On the sidelines of the event, Molitas said that as a region, Cordillera can greatly benefit from ASEAN especially with its indigenous communities. “The ASEAN recognizes the beauty of our culture and our practices and it’s one of the things we want to preserve and its one of the things that the ASEAN is also trying to promote. Not only in the Cordillera and the country, but the indigenous people in other member-states.”
Baguio hosted one of the landmark lighting events which was simultaneous in 49 other towns and cities all over the country to commemorate the golden year of the regional grouping. (PNA)
