As the Philippines has been agreed to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this 2017, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is also leading the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), one of the ASEAN’s three pillars.

As head of the ASCC, the DSWD through Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo aims to help the ASEAN realize a more people-oriented and socially-responsible orientation to foster greater solidarity and unity among peoples and Member States of the ASEAN.

This January 15, the ASEAN 2017 leadership of the Philippines will be launched in a ceremony in SM Lanang, SMX Convention Center in Davao City. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte will lead the event, and as chair of the ASCC, Sec. Taguiwalo will also attend the event along with other cabinet officials.

The ASEAN 2017 theme is “Partnering for change, engaging the world”, and six priorities will be carried out:

1. A people-oriented , people-centered ASEAN
2. Peace and stability in the region
3. Maritime security in the region
4. Inclusive, innovation-led growth
5. Resilience
6. Making ASEAN into a global player and a model of regionalism.

Pres. Duterte will deliver the keynote address which will be the main part of the launch; the other events are the launch of the ASEAN website and social media accounts; the P1 commemorative circulation coin for the Philippine ASEAN 2017 chairmanship; Philippines chairmanship of the ASEAN special stamps; and the Visit Asean@50 video.

Bring ASEAN closer to the people

“Our main goal as the chair of the ASCC is to contribute to efforts to make the ASEAN more people-oriented and people-centered. Concretely, what we want is to bring the ASEAN  closer to the people, and make it an institution that is responsive to the welfare and social needs of citizens in the Member States, able to provide assistance and guidance when it can in furtherance of advocacies and actions that directly benefit the poor and vulnerable sectors,” said DSWD Sec. Taguiwalo.

Sec. Taguiwalo said that as host of the 2017 ASEAN, the Philippines wants to bring to the table issues and concerns that evolve around the necessity to promote and protect the rights of migrant issues. The rights of the vulnerable sectors of women, children, persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, farmers, workers, fisherfolk, among others should also be addressed.

“We want to make the ASEAN more relevant to the lives of poor and ordinary citizens by highlighting issues that concern them, with the end goal to forge agreements to uphold their welfare and improve their quality of life. There is no debate that poverty continues to be a serious problem for many of the Member States of ASEAN.  The challenge to bring down poverty levels cuts across the entire ASEAN region; in the Philippines specifically, there is an urgent need to create more stable, productive jobs and means of employment for millions of underemployed and unemployed Filipinos. We hope that we can learn from the successful experiences of other ASEAN Member States when it comes to generating steady livelihood opportunities for their people with the support of the government,” she said.

“As the Philippines is largely agrarian with underdeveloped strategic industries, we need to come up with livelihood programs that link with other industries found in the country to make development organic and sustainable. We hope to refer to livelihood programs that link with other manufacturing industries, businesses and trade that are locally available and are substantially important for the ASEAN Region,” she said.#