PH celebrates ASEAN’s 54th anniversary

The Philippines joined other countries in celebrating the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 54th founding anniversary yesterday by highlighting the role of the organization in “addressing and managing the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement that “Our forefathers’ collective vision of a shared socio-economic development, cultural and community cohesion, and regional peace and stability has never wavered, even with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that we have all had to endure.”
“Now more than ever, being united as an intergovernmental organization has never been more important,” Andanatr added.
Further, the communications secretary shared his hopes for the cooperation between ASEAN countries to “lead to a greater intergovernmental and intermedia understanding and engagements within the region, to promote the dissemination of truthful information while ending the proliferation of fake news.”
ASEAN was established on Aug. 8, 1967, in Bangkok, with the signing of the declaration by its founding fathers – the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.