By Merlina Hernanrdo-Malipot
Vice President Leni Robredo is scheduled to leave for the United States and Canada by the end of this week for a series of engagements – including a speech before a top policy think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Vice President Leni Robredo
(Photo by OVP / MANILA BULLETIN)
Issuing an advisory, the Office of the Vice President said that Robredo will be leaving for US and Canada on Friday, October 12. She will be delivering the keynote address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on October 18, (Thursday, Manila time), for the CSIS-Pertamina-Banyan Tree Leadership Forum and the US-Philippines Strategic Initiative. This is “considered to be premier platforms for discussing issues that have significant impact on Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific.”
Robredo is also scheduled to meet with potential partners for OVP’s flagship anti-poverty program, “Angat Buhay” as well as with Filipinos who thrived there for “Istorya ng Pag-asa.” She will be attending other speaking engagements before Filipino associations during her stay as well.
Prior to her departure, Robredo is set to attend the awarding ceremony of the Galing Pook Awards 2018 and 4th Jesse Robredo Leadership Award at the Novotel Manila on Thursday evening (October 11). This event is the culminating event of the two-day Galing Pook Governance Fair 2018.
During the Galing Pook Governance Fair 2018, the 19 finalists of Galing Pook Awards 2018 presented and defended their respective programs before the 16-member National Selection Committee – with the results announced during the awarding ceremony.
The Galing Pook Governance Fair this year focused on the role of the youth in governance. Given this, youth leaders – particularly Sangguniang Kabataan officials –are expected to attend the Governance Fair to learn from the 19 Galing Pook finalists and other local government presenters in the concurrent sessions.
Galing Pook Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit organization that recognizes innovation and excellence in local governance through the Galing Pook Award. The Awards is considered a “pioneering program” that recognizes innovation and excellence in local governance.
The said Awards started on October 21, 1993, under the joint initiative of the Local Government Academy-Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Ford Foundation, and other individual advocates of good governance from the academe, civil society and the government. The Asian Institute of Management carried on the awards program until 2001. Earlier in 1998, the Galing Pook Foundation was formed as a juridical institution to sustain the program.
To date, Galing Pook Foundation has expanded its programs to include recognizing local government leaders through the Jesse Robredo Leadership Award which was launched in 2012 to recognize active citizenship and civil society organizations and through the Galing Pook Citizenship Awards which was launched in 2015 to promote its winners and models of good governance through various media, and training local government officials and staff on Adaptive and Innovative Leadership.