6 June 2014 - Members of the Philippine delegation who participated in the recently-concluded World Cities Summit currently in Singapore attended a gala reception at the official Australian residence on June 3 at the invitation of His Excellency Philip Green, High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore.
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and local officials from Australia and ASEAN member countries were invited to the event that was hosted by the Australian High Commissioner as part of activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-Australian relations.
Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio A. Morales joined the Philippine delegation that included Governor Edgar Chatto of Bohol, Mayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon City, Mayor Michael Rama of Cebu City, Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan of Angeles City, Mayor Jaime Fresnedi of Muntinlupa City, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City and Mayor Peter Miguel of Koronadal City.
The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Mr. Stephen Yarwood, delivered a message on behalf of Australia while Governor Edgar Chatto responded on behalf of the ASEAN delegations representing the Philippines in its capacity as coordinator of the ASEAN-Australia Dialogue.
In his remarks, Governor Chatto recognized Australia for the consistency of its cooperation with and support to ASEAN member countries in a number of initiatives in areas such as education, disaster management as well as in good governance and peace and order. He added that indeed, ASEAN is grateful to Australia and expressed hope for sustained ASEAN-Australian cooperation.
Governor Chatto noted that “all of us face similar challenges relevant to the way we manage and administer our respective jurisdictions and the best way for us to deal with these challenges would be to harness our collective potentials and share best practices. These are more reasons why we should continue our engagements”. END