Du30 invites Bing to ASEAN Special Gala

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Friday, November 10, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia was one of the select mayors President Rodrigo Duterte invited to the Special Gala Dinner for the 50th Association of Southeast Asian Nations anniversary celebration on Sunday at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.

Ten heads of state of ASEAN member-nations, 12 dialogue partners, Cabinet secretaries, ministers, senators, representatives, business leaders, and several mayors were invited.

“This is a singular honor for Bacolod to be part of this historic and significant occasion that may happen only once in 50 years,” Leonardia said.

“This shows that Bacolod is being recognized as a big player in the ASEAN community, being the first LGU (local government unit) to express its active participation in the ASEAN Integration,” added the mayor.

Leonardia had been pushing to position Bacolod as a premier city in Southeast Asia.

The city was the first local government in the Philippines to have made moves in carrying out the ASEAN Integration, the Department of Foreign Affairs earlier told the mayor.

In fact, the just-concluded 38th MassKara Festival in October – which Duterte graced as guest of honor – had the theme, “Bacolod: City of Southeast Asia.”

“We must be ready for the eventual integration of the ASEAN because our horizons will widen and the playing field will be bigger and more challenging,” Leonardia said in his recent State of the City Address.

“The integration of our country with nine other nations will mean that our horizons will widen, the playing field will be expanded, and we will have a new political and economic order,” said the mayor.

On March 21 to 24, the city hosted the 15th Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials Responsible for Information at the SMX Convention Center.

On Aug. 8, the Department of the Interior and Local Government chose the Bacolod City Government Center as one of the prominent and historic structures in the country to participate in the simultaneous ASEAN Landmark Lighting Ceremonies.

Duterte attended the MassKara Festival twice in a row. He opened the festival last year on Oct. 2 and attended the last day of this year’s festival on Oct. 22. (With Bacolod City Public Information Office/PN)
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