JUNE 1, 2011

NR # 2422C

BELMONTE FORMALLY OPENS 3RD AIPA CAUCUS

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte today opened the 3rd ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary

Assembly (AIPA) Caucus that would focus on setting up a blueprint for concerted and
institutionalized regional disaster management and children’s welfare programs.

“Two problems gain prominence at this juncture in our history: disaster

management and children’s welfare,” the Speaker declared during his opening message,
anticipating AIPA Secretary General and former Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco’s effective
steering of the Caucus sessions as head of the AIPA Secretariat.

The AIPA Caucus, hosted by the Philippine House of Representatives at the South
Wing Annex, Batasan complex, is being attended by delegates from Brunei Darussalam,
the Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Singapore,
the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic.

The Philippine delegation to the meeting is headed by Zambales Rep. Antonio Diaz
with the following members: Hon. Ma. Isabelle Climaco; Hon. Al Francis Bichara; Hon.
Ma. Zenaida Angping; Hon Mylene Garcia-Albano; Hon. Romero Federico Quimbo; Hon.
Rachel Martguerite del Mar; and Atty. Rosario Sagadal as Delegation Secretary. House
Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap led the House Secretariat in the minute preparations
for the full duration of the Caucus.

Due to pressing prior commitments in their country, Myanmar earlier extended its
regrets as they sent due notice of their non-attendance even as they stressed their full
backing for regional solidarity.

Belmonte anticipated that the next Caucus days would take into consideration the
devastation that Japan encountered, underlining the necessity of preparing for similar
disasters as each member, at one time or another had been in the eye of disasters like
tsunamis, flooding, earthquakes, cyclones, typhoons, wildfires, and epidemics that respect
no borders.

Belmonte noted that the scientific community agrees that the perils facing all
nations will become more acute and pronounced as global warming intensifies.

On the same level, Belmonte cited the area of children’s welfare, noting that over
200,000 women and children in South East Asia fall prey to trafficking with a still
significant number affected by the various conflicts that rage across the region.

“Still others are forced into labor at an early age because of poverty and destitution,
or are otherwise deprived of the opportunity to learn, or even to live in dignity and with
the nourishment and care appropriate for their age,” the House leader said.

In the wake of these dark realities, he lamented that while “we affirm in unison the
deepest concern for our children as reflected in our ratification of various international
instruments that seek to guarantee their right, including the International Convention on
the Rights of a Child which every AIPA nation has signed, our institutions yet struggle to
transform our legal commitments into everyday social realities.”

As representatives of the peoples of the ASEAN, Belmonte underscored the

lawmakers’ legal obligation and moral duty not only to discuss their common concerns
among other issues of regional import, but to explore a regional consensus on how to
proceed henceforth and solve these problems.

Even as ASEAN has received criticism for proceeding cautiously towards regional
integration, Belmonte proudly cited ASEAN’s steady march towards an ASEAN
Community.

“While other regional groupings struggle to keep theirs intact, through consensus-
building, we have slowly but firmly established the foundations of our regional
community,” Belmonte declared, concluding that “we will achieve the goals we set out to
fulfill, further extending avenues of cooperation among ASEAN nations.” (30) dpt