The 38th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) concluded Tuesday with delegates commending House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for his outstanding performance as president of AIPA.
The commendation was contained in a resolution passed and adopted by the AIPA General Assembly Tuesday.
As AIPA president, Alvarez successfully led the House of Representatives in the preparation and hosting of three AIPA events this year: the ASEAN-AIPA Leaders’ Interface last April 27 to 30; the AIPA Fact-Finding Committee to Combat the Drug Menace from July 4 to 8; and the 38th AIPA General Assembly from Sept. 14 to 19.
In his speech at the closing ceremony of the 38th AIPA General Assembly, Alvarez pointed out that despite the diversity in culture and history, ASEAN lawmakers were able to find consensus on a wide range of issues and problems confronting the Southeast Asian region.
“In the 40 years of its existence, consensus has helped AIPA maintain internal unity in dealing with critical and sensitive issues, as we have done in this Assembly, and ensure equal rights and responsibilities,” the Speaker said. “It is in fact a testament of our strong faith to the core principles that have sustained cooperation and mutual trust among AIPA member parliaments.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker turned over the presidency of AIPA to Speaker Tan Chuan-jin of the Parliament of Singapore, who was represented by Deputy Speaker and Head of Delegation Lim Biow-chuan. Singapore will host the 39th General Assembly in September next year.
Lim congratulated Alvarez for his “wisdom and steady and able leadership” of the AIPA and hailed the ASEAN parliamentarians, observers, and other guests for the vigorous discussions on wide-ranging issues confronting the Southeast Asian region and the international community. | CONGRESS- PR
