Press Release
January 3, 2012

Drilon and Angara to attend 20th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum

Senators Franklin M. Drilon and Edgardo J. Angara will leave Saturday, January 7, 2011, to represent the Philippines in the upcoming 20th Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), which will be held from January 8-12, 2012, in Tokyo, Japan.

An annual conference held in different Asia Pacific countries, the APPF was formally created in 1993 in Tokyo, Japan, with fifty-nine parliamentarians from 15 countries adopting what is now called the "Tokyo Declaration," which sought to provide opportunities for national parliamentarians of the Asia Pacific region to identify and discuss matters of common concern and interest.

"The past few years have seen the need to revisit the Asia Pacific Region's policies on political and security matters," Drilon said. "Addressing these two issues will pave the way for better economic and trade relations, greatly enhancing much-needed regional cooperation between member countries."

The Philippines, as a founding member, hosted the second meeting in Manila in 1994, with member-parliamentarians formally adopting a resolution covering the rules of procedure that will apply in the management of administrative matters within the organization.

Acting as the legislative branch of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the APPF is comprised of 27 member countries, including the Philippines, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Fiji, Micronesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Canada, Chile, Colombia, United Mexican States, Peru, the United States of America, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

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