Duterte declares August as ‘ASEAN Month’

President Duterte in 2016 (Photo By Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Japan, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA, Aug. 9 — In connection with the Philippine chairmanship of the 50th founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a proclamation declaring the month of August as “ASEAN Month” with the aim of further raising public awareness on the importance and value of the regional bloc.

Proclamation No. 282, which Duterte signed on July 31, amended Proclamation No. 1008, issued in 1997, that declared August 7-13 of every year as “ASEAN Week.”

In issuing the proclamation, Duterte said the Philippines, as one of the founding members of ASEAN, recognizes the need to further promote and heighten awareness of the ASEAN, and instill in the minds of the Filipino people the importance, value, and meaning of the ASEAN in achieving and maintaining regional peace and sustainable development.

In view of this, Proclamation 282 orders all government agencies, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Tourism (DoT), Department Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to initiate and implement programs and activities to help generate awareness and public support in promoting the observance of ASEAN Month throughout the country.

Earlier, the Civil Service Commission (CSC), through Memorandum Circular No. 07, called on public officials and employees to actively take part in raising the public’s awareness of the ASEAN.

The Philippines, together with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand founded ASEAN on August 8, 1967, in Bangkok with the aim of promoting the economic, social and cultural development of the region through cooperative programs in order to safeguard the political and economic stability of the region.

ASEAN was also established to serve as a forum for the resolution of intra-regional differences.

Since then, ASEAN has accepted Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam as member states.