DENR Officials Attend 14th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment Held in Brunei

Assistant Secretary for Field Operations–Visayas, Marcial C. Amaro, Jr., Alternate Representative and Senior Official on Environment (3^rd from L), with other Heads of Delegations, pose for a group photo during the 15^th ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers Meeting, part of the 14^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (14^th AMME) and Related Meetings held on September 11-13, 2017 in Bandar Seri Begawan.

19 September 2017, BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Officials from the PHL’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), led by Assistant Secretary for Field Operations–Visayas, Marcial C. Amaro, Jr., Alternate Representative and Senior Official on Environment, attended the 14^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (14^th AMME) and Related Meetings, and the 13^th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (COP-13AATHP) on September 11 to 13 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Hosted by Brunei’s Ministry of Development (MoD), said Meetings were attended by over 100 delegates comprised of Ministers and senior environment officials from ASEAN Member States (AMS), China, Japan and South Korea.  

During the 14^th AMME, the Ministers reviewed regional cooperation on a number of environmental issues, particularly, actions taken on environmental sustainability under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint, and discussed new initiatives on the promotion of environmental cooperation in the region.

The Ministers also reaffirmed their commitment through regional cooperation to effectively implement the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) and the Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control with Means of Implementation, to realize a Haze-Free ASEAN by 2020. 

During the ASEAN Environment Day and Gala Dinner, PHL Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre met representatives from San Carlos City, Negros Occidental – one of the ASEAN cities that were conferred with the 4^th ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award. 

Aside from the members of the PHL delegation, the Ambassador also invited representatives from the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) to a lunch he hosted at his official residence.

The COP-14AATHP will be hosted by Myanmar in 2018 and the 15^th AMME and Related Meetings will be held in Cambodia in 2019. END

For more information, visit www.bruneipe.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippine-embassybrunei.org.

Assistant Secretary for Field Operations–Visayas, Marcial C. Amaro, Jr., Alternate Representative and Senior Official on Environment (R), delivers the PHL’s intervention during the 14^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (14^th AMME) and Related Meetings. Sitting beside him is Ms. Llarina S. Mojica, Chief, Policy Studies Division, Policy and Planning Service of the DENR (Technical and Administrative Support).

Engr. Arthur A. Batomalaque, Environmental Management Specialist, City Environment Management Office of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental (C), receives the 4^th ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award for the Philippines from Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Bahrin bin Abdullah, Brunei’s Minister of Development (L), during the ASEAN Environment Day and Gala Dinner.

PHL Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre (C), with members of the PHL delegation, representatives from the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, and representatives from San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, following the Presentation Ceremony of the 4^th ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award.  

PHL Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre (3^rd from L), with members of the PHL delegation, representatives from the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, and Embassy personnel, pose for a group photo following the lunch hosted by the Ambassador at his official residence.