Another Pinoy chosen for ASEAN post

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers have selected a Filipino professor to be the deputy secretary-general of the ASEAN Secretariat, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said yesterday.

Ople said the choice of Prof. Wilfrido Villacorta of De La Salle University was made in the course of the just concluded 36th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Villacorta teaches political science and international studies and is also president of the Yuchengco Center for East Asian Studies.

"The choice of Professor Villacorta is an excellent one," Ople said.

"He will bring decades of wisdom and experience to the ASEAN Secretariat. He will be an important asset of ASEAN and will carry on with the outstanding tradition of international service established by other distinguished high officials of ASEAN who came from the Philippines," he added.

The outgoing secretary general of the 10-member regional grouping is also a Filipino — former ambassador Rodolfo Severino, who retired recently.

The Secretariat is located in Jakarta, Indonesia. Villacorta will start his term this year until 2005.

Villacorta was a member of the Constitutional Commission in 1987 with Ople, the secretary noted.

"Professor Villacorta was with me when we drafted the 1987 Constitution. In his career, he has made valuable contributions to Philippine society. From today, he will be making valuable contributions to the ASEAN community," Ople said.