The UP Asian Center will host the onsite public forum "The Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN Chairship: Gains, Accomplishments, and Prospects" on 29 October 2026, 2 PM (GMT+8), at the Seminar Room, Asian Center, UP Diliman. The event is open to the public. Snacks will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to register online.
ABOUT THE FORUM
The year 2026 has been a landmark year for the Philippines as it assumed the Chairship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Building on Malaysia's achievements in 2025, the Philippines was set to lead ASEAN, the world’s fifth-largest economy, with nearly 700 million people, toward strengthening cooperation and commitment to shared aspirations. Guided by the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” the Philippines has defined strategic priorities for its term: peace and security, economic prosperity, and people empowerment. This agenda affirms the region’s aspiration for an “open, inclusive and outward-looking regional community” rooted in its own brand of community building.
Over the last few months, the Philippines welcomed delegates from across Southeast Asia to discuss organizational obligations, various issues and agreements, and opportunities for collaboration. Key matters highlighted included maritime security, climate change and disasters, energy security through the ASEAN Common Shared Power Grid and Petroleum Security Agreements, and safe and ethical AI and digital literacy through the landmark Digital Economy Framework Agreement, among others.
With the chairship coming to an end and the annual ASEAN Summit in November, there is a need to assess ASEAN’s progress and prospects. Recognizing that the organization’s chairship is not only about pursuing new initiatives but also about translating the vision and interests of its member states into concrete actions and institutions, this public forum seeks to evaluate major developments achieved through Philippine leadership. By bringing together diplomats, policymakers, scholars, and other stakeholders, this activity seeks to provide a platform for discussing the Philippines' ASEAN Chairmanship, its gains, accomplishments, and prospects. Discussions will focus on major achievements across the three community-building pillars, examining these advancements in the context of growing economic uncertainties and heightened geopolitical rivalry within and beyond the region.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
ASEAN Centrality: Antidote to Future Challenges and Megatrends
AMBASSADOR ELIZABETH P. BUENSUCESO
Former Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN
Ambassador ELIZABETH P. BUENSUCESO was the Philippines’ Eminent Person to the High-Level Task Force that negotiated and crafted the ASEAN Community Vision 2045. She has been with the Philippine Foreign Service for over 43 years. She was formerly Undersecretary (Vice Minister) for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs and Philippine ASEAN SOM Leader. She was Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN for over six (6) years, and became Chair of six ASEAN bodies, including the powerful Committee of Permanent Representatives. She served as the Philippine Ambassador to the Lao PDR and Norway, with concurrent accreditation to Denmark and Iceland. In the Home Office, she served in the Office of European Affairs, Economic Diplomacy, and the Office of the USec for Policy and Cultural Affairs and Information. Her other foreign postings include Beijing, Singapore, Brussels, and Hong Kong. Ambassador Buensuceso is a recipient of a presidential award, Gawad Kamanong, with the rank of Commander. She was also given the Cecilio Apostol Lifetime Achievement Award by the DFA.
Ambassador Buensuceso has an AB degree major in English, Magna Cum Laude. She has a Master's degree in ASEAN Studies from the University of the Philippines Open University, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer. She is the author of a book titled “ASEAN Centrality: An Autoethnographic Account by a Philippine Diplomat'', published by ISEAS-YII. She has written several articles on ASEAN. She travels around Asia and the Philippines giving lectures on ASEAN. She also teaches ASEAN Studies and Negotiation Techniques at the Foreign Service Institute of DFA. She also taught English and Philosophy at the PUP from 1976-1978.
UNDERSECRETARY LEO M. HERRERA-LIM
Undersecretary for Policy, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs
Undersecretary (Vice-Minister) Leo M. Herrera-Lim is a career diplomat with over 35 years of service at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). He served as Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the Kingdom of Denmark from 2019 to 2025. He previously held the position of Consul General in Chicago and later in Los Angeles. His earlier foreign assignments included postings in Washington, D.C., and London. In the Home Office and prior to his current position as Undersecretary for Policy, he served as Undersecretary for Migration Affairs from 15 August 2025 to 19 November 2025, and as Assistant Secretary at the Office of the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Internal Economic Relations from 8 July 2016 to 14 April 2019. He also held various key positions at the Office of Legal Affairs, the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration, the Office of American Affairs, the Office of the Secretary, and the Human Resource Management Office. Undersecretary Leo is currently the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Leader for the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN chairship. From 2016 to 2018, he served as the Philippine Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). He holds degrees in both law and economics.
DIRECTOR HANNAH A. GIRAY-CARCIDO
Officer-in-Charge, Policy Development and Planning Bureau, Department of Social Welfare and Development
Director Hannah Giray-Carcido brings nearly two decades of experience in social development, policy formulation, strategic planning, project management, and international cooperation and negotiations. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2003 and earned her Master in Development Management from the Development Academy of the Philippines in 2015. She also completed the Academy on Social Security at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization in Turin, Italy. She has represented the Philippines in high-level regional engagements, particularly within ASEAN, serving in 2026 as Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Development of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Strategic Plan. She also helped advance ASCC priority deliverables during the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairship and provided technical support to the Philippine Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) and the ASCC. Currently, she serves as Officer-in-Charge of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), leading initiatives on evidence-based policy development, strategic planning, results-based management, and international and regional cooperation.
ASEAN and Its Centrality: Managing Expectations
PROF. AMADOR IV PELEO, Ph.D.
Professorial Lecturer, UP Department of Political Science
Amador IV Peleo, Ph.D. is a professorial lecturer for the Master in International Affairs programme at the Department of Political Science of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD). He earned his PhD at the School of Political, Social, and International Studies of the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, UK in 2008, and his MA in International Relations at the Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR), International University of Japan (IUJ) in Niigata, Japan in 2003.
LUCIO III PITLO
Professorial Lecturer, UP Department of Political Science
Lucio III Pitlo is a foreign affairs and security analyst with deep grounding in the Asia-Pacific region and over two decades of experience across private, public, academic, and think-tank sectors. His background spans policy-relevant research, multi-stakeholder engagement, consultancy, teaching, and speaking at academic and Track 2 conferences on regional security and geopolitics. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and completed graduate studies in Asian Studies at the University of the Philippines, a Master of Laws from Peking University, and graduate studies in Defense, Diplomacy and Development from American University. His commentaries on maritime security, Philippine, and Southeast Asian regional affairs regularly appear in outlets such as Asia Times, China-US Focus, CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, South China Morning Post, and The Diplomat.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZER
This book talk is organized by the UP Asian Center
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