5 ASEAN members visit University of the Visayas

Five of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gifted students of the University of the Visayas with reference materials about their respective countries during their Campus Tour yesterday.

Second Secretary Tuty Ditjawanty of the Brunei Darussalam Embassy, First Secretary Meckham Silykhoune of the Embassy of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Second Secretary Mohd Adli Abdullah and Minister Counselor Chailert Limsomboon from the Royal Thai Embassy, and Third Secretary Duong Quy Nam of the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam handed gifts to UV Assistant Vice Presidents for Finance and Administration Joselito Gullas and Gerald Gullas respectively, and to former Department of Education regional director Eladio Dioko.

The ambassadors as well as Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., Presidential Chief Protocol and Secretary General of the ASEAN National Organizing Committee, former deputy secretary general of the ASEAN Secretariat Wilfrido Villacorta and ASEAN spokesperson Victoriano Lecaros were impressed upon learning from UV Executive Vice President and former congressman Jose Gullas that the university has one of the highest number of scholars among universities in the country.

The Campus Tour was part of the pre-summit activities for the ASEAN ambassadors and representatives to reach out to some of the country's school networks.

"We hope that even after the summit, you will remember not only Cebu but also the University of the Visayas," Gullas said.

In their inspirational messages, Paynor, Villacorta and Lecaros told the students to look beyond the inconveniences and the high cost of the summit preparations.

"The complaints may be legitimate but we are missing the bigger picture if we are seeing only this things," Paynor said.

The influx of investments and numerous employment vacancies are just some of the positive effects of the international gathering. Lecaros said there would be a difference to see Filipinos going abroad as investors and not as workers.

The ambassadors said other ASEAN members also spent money for the summit but they also reaped its positive effects when they eventually opened their economy.

They mentioned Vietnam and ASEAN non-member China, which had previously closed their doors to the outside world but now gained unprecedented economic growth when they embraced liberalization. - Ferliza C. Contratista