ASEAN Member States, ASEAN Dialogue Partners and the signatories of the Five Powers Defence Arrangements sent their official representatives to the celebration.

Secretary del Rosario arrived in Singapore in the early evening of August 08 as the official representative of President Benigno S. Aquino III. He was welcomed at the Changi International Airport by Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio A. Morales, Director General Foo Teow Lee, Southeast Asia II Directorate of the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore.

On August 09, Secretary del Rosario attended a lunch at the Istana hosted by the President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam, where he personally conveyed the congratulatory message of President Aquino to President Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Later that day, the Secretary was at the National Day Parade 2015, the main highlight of the celebration, at the Padang. While witnessing the parade, he met with other Singaporean officials including Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Grace Fu. 

At the sidelines of the SG50 celebrations, Secretary del Rosario also met with UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond. During the meeting, Secretary del Rosario and Secretary Hammond discussed developments in the Philippines, PHL-UK bilateral relations, as well as regional issues including the South China Sea. END