Message of Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano on the Occasion of the 51st Founding Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 08 August 2018

“Love your neighbor as yourself” – Mark 12-31

Today, we commemorate the Founding Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its fifty-one years of solidarity, unity, and cooperation. 

Amid the emerging regional and pressing issues of our time, ASEAN has become resilient and has only ever grown stronger. The bonds of ASEAN endures. 

The recently held 51st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings last 30 July to 4 August allowed me to reflect on ASEAN’s close and dynamic relationship. We held candid and transparent discussions. The trust and deep regard ASEAN Member States have for each other allowed for the achievement of tangible goals through concrete action and cooperation.

The realization of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 is a consolidation of community-building efforts and ASEAN centrality. It mirrors Ambisyon Natin 2040 where all Filipinos will be able to enjoy work-life balance, comfortable existence, and access to basic needs and services. The aspirations of ASEAN embraces not only the Philippines but other ASEAN Member States. 

We are as much Filipino as we are a people of ASEAN. The 51st Founding Anniversary of ASEAN celebrates our ASEAN identity, and its timeless values of centrality, consultation, cooperation and respect for each other’s individuality. By continuously observing ASEAN’s long-valued principles since its birth on August 8, 1967 we look forward to a more peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN.

Long live ASEAN!