The Consuls General were asked to say a few words during the program. In her remarks, the undersigned shared that the Philippines will be chair of the ASEAN Summit next year and the Philippines is active in the forefront of maintaining prosperity, stability and dialogue within ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific region. She added that since Indo-Pacific issues are the area of study at UBC, Consul General Jamoralin informed the group that the Philippines will be celebrating the 9th year anniversary of the Arbitral Award issued by the Permanent of Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the issue of the South China Sea in 2016.

Professor Allison M. Macfarlane, Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Professor Kai Oswald, Director of UBC Institute of Asian Research, co-hosted the event.