MANILA – The House of Representatives will host the first-ever virtual meeting of the 11th Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Caucus on Friday.
With the Philippines as host nation, the 11th AIPA Caucus meeting, which carries the theme “We Heal As One: Parliamentary Cooperation Towards Mitigating Risks and Strengthening Economic Resilience in the Period of Pandemic", aims to deepen the parliamentary coordination on the economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Southeast Asia.
The meeting also seeks to assist in facilitating dialogues and consultations among member parliaments on economic recovery and resilience amid the pandemic, as well as on other reforms towards boosting the capability of Southeast Asian member nations to surmount similar potential crises in the future.
The opening session will start at 9 a.m. with the speech of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano regarding the contribution of the Philippine House of Representatives in the 18th Congress to the national as well as to the regional battle against the virus and its socio-economic impacts.
AIPA member parliaments of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines will present their country reports on the status of implementation of the resolutions adopted during the 40th AIPA General Assembly held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2019.
There will also be a discussion on national Initiatives and possible areas for common legislation linked to this year’s theme, and the resulting draft report of the 11th AIPA Caucus would then be considered and adopted.
The session ends with the virtual signing of the 11th AIPA Caucus Report by heads of AIPA delegations.
The heads of delegations are Hon. Pehin Dato Haji Hasrin Haji Sabtu of Brunei Darussalam, Hon. Sokan Sok of Cambodia, Hon. Rohani Abdul Karim of Malaysia, Hon. Zaw Thein of Myanmar, Hon. Abraham Tolentino of the Philippines, Hon. Virasakdi Futrakul of Thailand, and Hon. Nguyen Van Giau of Vietnam.
Members of the Philippine delegation are Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer, Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, Quezon City Rep. Jesus Suntay, and Mr. Novel Bangsal as delegation secretary.
The AIPA was formed to support and contribute to the realization of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) goals through inter-parliamentary cooperation.
The AIPA Caucus serves as a mechanism to develop regular interaction among AIPA Member Parliaments as well as between AIPA and the Asean.
It promotes information sharing and exchanges to create common legislative ideas or proposals aimed at regional cooperation and growth. The discussions always center on common areas of concern of member-parliaments. (PNA)
