‘GOVERNANCE, growth, development and security” will be the theme of a symposium that is intended to reflect on the accomplishments of the Aquino administration, as well as the opportunities and challenges for the Philippines, as the country prepares to elect a new president on May 9.
Titled “Philippines 2016: Governance, Growth, Development and Security,” the symposium is cosponsored by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the US-Philippines Society, together with the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS). It will be held at the SAIS Rome Auditorium on Thursday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
As President Aquino concludes his six-year term, leading Philippine and US analysts and officials offer their comments and recommendations on governance, growth, development and security, and the prospects for Philippines-US relations.
The first panel on governance, growth and development will feature former World Bank Country Director for the Philippines Motoo Konishi; Gloria D. Steele, senior deputy assistant administrator for Asia of the US Agency for International Development; and Matthew L. Bohn, vice president of administration and finance and CFO of the Millennium Challenge Corp.
The second panel on peace and security, including the issues relating to the South China Sea and southern Philippines, will have the following as panelists: Prof. Zachary Abuza of the US National War College; Prof. Patricio Abinales of the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and Prof. Ruth Wedgwood, Burling professor of International Law of Johns Hopkins’s SAIS.
A luncheon keynote address will then be given by Sen. Richard Lugar, former chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who played a critical role in supporting Philippine democracy and development, and strengthening modern US-Philippine relations.