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PGMA's
Speech during a Dinner in Honor of H.E. Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh of the Lao
People's Democratic Republic |
| His
Excellency Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, senior officials of the Lao delegation, His
Excellency the Papal Nuncio and the Excellencies of the diplomatic corps, Former President
Ramos, Senate President Villar, Speaker De Venecia, Secretary Romulo and the other members
of the Cabinet, guests, ladies and gentlemen. We welcome back Prime Minister Bouasone to the Philippines in the spirit of our traditional brotherhood and in our capacity as ASEAN chair this year. Filipinos have had a long history of involvement with our Lao brothers between 1955 and 1975 Philippine operation brother missions went to Laos to provide medical check ups, perform minor surgery, distribute free medicine, help build bridges and roads, and teach English and basic health care to tens of thousands of Laotians in the remote areas of your country. These missions included about 2,000 Filipinos at one time. We hope Filipinos and Laotians will continue to touch the lives of each other. It is in the interest of both our countries to be regionally and globally engaged politically, economically and diplomatically. Laos and the Philippines have consistently supported each other in the various fora. On the part of the Philippines, we have consistently supported the aspiration of Laos to have a feeder railroad in the Kunming-Singapore great railroad project. And on the part of Laos, we thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your government support to the successful reelection of the Philippines to the Human Rights Council. You have had a chance to meet with our business community. The Philippines would like to tap opportunities available in Laos in many areas including services, wood and wood products, consumer goods and food. And we hope as you have said that our business communities can visit each other and exchange notes on the possibilities between our two countries. Excellency, we have fond memories of our visit in Laos in 2004 for the 10th ASEAN Summit. The Lao government's admirable hosting made the summit a tremendous success not to mention the very substantive Vientiane action plan. The successful hosting by Laos inspired us also to do our best when our term came earlier this year. This year, ASEAN carries the theme of "One Caring and Sharing Community." as the current chair, the Philippines pushes for initiatives that make ASEAN a shining institution that cares for its peoples, for its environment and an institution that truly shares resources for uplifting the disadvantaged, integrating the marginalized and realizing the common good. This year, we will celebrate 40 years of ASEAN. So it's good for you to visit the Philippines at a time like this -- our 40th anniversary of ASEAN. And this year we celebrate how with collective wisdom and resolve, we, in ASEAN have broken free from the chains of colonialism, to seek the blessings of peace, prosperity and progress for all our peoples. We have faith that we will continue to find the full promise of a region known for its rich diversity and many races and creeds but united in our vision of "One Caring and Sharing Community" by 2015. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I invite everyone to join me in a toast to the success and good Health of His Excellency, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. Mabuhay! |
