Alvarez welcomes AIPA delegates
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has rallied legislators from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and other nations to come together to forge “stronger and collective actions to counter the tide of regional and global challenges” posed by the spread of extremist violence, regional tension triggered by maritime sovereignty disputes, and human and drug trafficking.
Welcoming delegates to the 38th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Alvarez Alvarez aired strong optimism on the formal establishment of the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Lawmakers and delegates from from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Also joining the group are heads of observer delegations from Australia, Canada, Belarus, China, European Parliament, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Russian Federation are joining the AIPA assembly being held at Makati Shangri-La-Hotel.
“The active support and participation of the AIPA delegates will be crucial to the successful conduct of this year’s General Assembly, which is centered on the theme “ASEAN and AIPA: Partnering for Inclusive Change,” said Alvarez aas he opened the Executive Committee Meeting of the General Assembly.
Alvarez is the incumbent AIPA president.
“While the year 2017 is truly a milestone, our journey will continue beyond 2017. Towards this end, I encourage all the delegates to actively engage in constructive dialogue and consultation on political, economic and security issues of mutual concern in the region,” he said.
Likewise, the speaker stressed the importance of including in the dialogue agenda observer countries as deeper relations between AIPA member and observer parliaments will facilitate more people-to-people contact between the ASEAN community and the peoples of observer countries.
Article 5 of the Statutes of the AIPA, Chapter IV (Structure) provides that the AIPA shall consist of the General Assembly, the Presidency, the Executive Committee, the Committees, and the Secretariat.
Article 6 provides that there shall be a General Assembly of AIPA consisting of delegations from each member parliament comprising not more than 15 members, headed by the speaker or his representative. At least three of the members shall be women parliamentarians.
It further provides that the General Assembly shall be the policymaking body of the AIPA and shall meet at least once a year, unless otherwise decided by the Executive Committee.