President Duterte on Saturday expressed confidence that the partnership and mutual aid among Southeast Asian countries will enable the region to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and become more resilient .
Duterte made the statement during the 53rd founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In his statement, Duterte noted that ASEAN’s commitment to community-building became even stronger with the challenges the regional bloc faces, particularly the coronavirus pandemic.
“Bouncing back from the pandemic appears to be a daunting task. But if pursues with friends, the burden is shared and transformed into an opportunity to create a more resilient Southeast Asian region,” he said.
The President said that with a deeper sense of common purpose, Southeast Asian countries will continue to work together as one ASEAN and strengthen partnerships with friends within and outside the region.
“We are confident that the ASEAN way of partnership and mutual aid will help us overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and move forward with our community-building endeavors,” he said.
The ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration or Bangkok Declaration by its Founding Members namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Brunei Darussalam joined on January 7, 1984; Vietnam, July 28, 1995; Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 23, 1997; and Cambodia April 30, 1999, making up the current 10 Member States of ASEAN. (Argyll Geducos) Â