Asian parliamentary assembly starts today

A few months before the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, Cebu is rolling out the red carpet for some 300 parliamentarians and officials from all over Southeast Asia in the 27th general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organizations that starts today and ends Friday.

President Gloria Arroyo will not be able to grace the affair as she is joining 38 other heads of state at the 6th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Helsinki, Finland, from Sept. 10 and 11 on the first leg of a five-nation trip to bolster Philippine economic, trade and political ties with her host countries.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia, current AIPO president, leads the nine speakers of parliament who have confirmed participation in this meeting that will tackle vital issues.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will host tonight a welcome dinner at the Capitol social hall to the AIPO member legislatures of Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines and the leaders of special observer countries of Myanmar and Brunei.

When De Venecia formally opens the assembly on Monday, the Philippines will be hosting the first of two premier meetings this year, one by the region's top parliamentary leaders and the other the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in December.

Eight heads of parliaments from Southeast Asia have confirmed their AIPO attendance.

They are Samdech Heng Samrin of Cambodia, Suchon Chaleekure of Thailand, Tan Sri Dato Diraja Ramli Ngah Talib of Malaysia, Agung Laksono of Indonesia, Abdullah Tarmugi of Singapore, Thongsing Thammavong of Laos, Nguyen Phu Trong of Vietnam and Senate President Manuel Villar of the Philippines.

The General Assembly carries the theme "Caring and Sharing for ASEAN prosperity," reflecting a strong concern for economic growth and equity among neighbors in the region, said Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee and head of the Organizing Committee for the 27th AIPO General Assembly.

In a statement, De Venecia and Cuenco said that "AIPO Cebu 2006" is also expected to strengthen sentiment for political unification among ASEAN nations by launching the beginnings of an ASEAN parliament to legislate and confirm common action on world peace, anti-terrorism, poverty, environment health, drug trade, cross-border crimes, human rights and social justice.

Cuenco said that dialogue partner-countries, such as Japan, Australia, Korea, New Zealand and European Parliament, and the Russian Federation will be sending their delegates.

The Philippine delegation is made up of senior members of the House of Representatives, namely, Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar, representatives Roque Ablan, Robert Ace Barbers, Edgar Chatto, Simeon Kintanar, Ramon Durano VI, Clavel Asas-Martinez, Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, Antonio Yapha, Herminio Teves, Eduardo Zialcita, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Luis Villafuerte, Emmylou Talino-Santos, Iggy Arroyo, Mat Defensor, Vincent Garcia, Janette Garin, Eduardo Gullas, Josefina Joson, Milagros Magsaysay, Oscar Malapitan, Reylina Nicolas, Joey Salceda, Lorna Silverio and Akbayan party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales.

Cuenco said it was in Laos when AIPO decided to have today's general assembly be held in Cebu to give them chance to visit the Philippines. He has attended 21 of the 27 general assemblies of AIPO since 1998 and has the nickname Mr. AIPO in the House.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Police Office Operations Branch chief, C/Insp. Elmer Lim yesterday said that they have been tasked to provide route, area, venue, parking, and perimeter security during the said event in coordination with the other task group like task group Explosive and Ordinance Disposal, Crowd Dispersal Movement, SWAT, and other groups that assigned during the said event.

Lim said that the CPPO is responsible for the security inside the Capitol complex while the city police are responsible for security outside. Lim added that the said activity is being held in the City to determine how prepared the city police is for the coming ASEAN Summit. - Gregg M. Rubio with Norvie S. Misa