Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Photo: Grabbed from UP CIFAL Facebook page. 


The International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in the Philippines (CIFAL Philippines) and the UP Asian Center Center organized the forum, The Role and Position of the Philippines in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on 8 February 2018, Seminar Room, Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. 

In a press release from CIFAL Philippines, "the forum was conducted in partnership with Thailand’s King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI). A delegation of 30 KPI students from Thailand visited UP as part of a learning tour about ASEAN."

The forum featured presentations from the following:  

  • Ambassador Elizabeth Buensuceso, Philippine Permanent Representative to the ASEAN
  • Myrene Bedaño, Chief of the Regional Relations and Arrangements Division of the Department of Trade and Industry, Republic of the Philippines. 
  • Dr. Suthipand Chirathivad, King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI)
  • Dr. Edna, Director, UP-CIFAL Philippines

Dean Joefe Santarita, PhD of the UP Asian Center also spoke at the forum, where he discussed "Philippine migration governance, which has been lauded as a model for ASEAN countries to emulate." 


The UP Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Get an overview of these programs. The Asian Center also houses a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia. It has published several books and monographs, and hosts or organizes various lectures and conferences