PEACE-MAKER

We in the 350-member ICAPP, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, take pride in the recent achievements of our women colleagues – Khuon Sudary of Cambodia and Nalinee Taveesin of Thailand.

Khuon Sudary, vice chairperson of our standing committee, ICAPP’s governing body, broke a historic ground with her election as the first woman president of Cambodia’s National Assembly. Indeed, her election is a testament of her exceptional leadership in helping successfully steered the affairs of the Cambodian legislature as its vice president for many years. 

We earlier mentioned in this column that when we founded and launched ICAPP in Manila in September 2000, not many people believed that it would be possible to bring together Asia’s ruling and opposition parties and with various ideologies under one organization. One of the few who did was Khuon Sudary, then a young political leader. 

We continue to count on her active engagement and invaluable insights in realizing the vision of ICAPP. 

On the other hand, Nalinee Taveesin, who is a dear friend to us and wife Gina, has been appointed as Thailand’s trade representative and as advisor to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. 

She previously served as Thai trade representative and minister in the office of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, overseeing several government agencies, including the Royal Academy, the National Research Council of Thailand, and the Office of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council. 
A holder of master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and a doctorate in communication from Regent University in Virginia, USA, she is a former senator and associate judge of Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. 

We have no doubt that with her exceptional experience and leadership, she will once again excel in her post.

 

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Our wife Gina and we mourned the recent passing of Saeed Daof who, with his late wife, the respected Philippine Star columnist Domini Torrevillas, was a dear friend to our family. 

Saeed was a genuine, taciturn, and humble patriot – in mind, in heart, and in spirit – at times endangering his life to embrace causes larger than himself.
He served as chairman of the Southern Philippines Development Authority; governor and co-chairman of the disaster management and services committee of the Philippine Red Cross; vice president for Mindanao of the Philippine Constitution Association; and director general of the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development of Mindanao. 

Saeed and Domini provided steadfast support when we founded and launched the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Manila in September 2000 and which now represents some 350 political parties from 52 countries in Asia. 

They also gave valuable insights when we established the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) in 2010, which brings together political parties and civil society organizations in the Asia Pacific region under one roof and in a common house. 

As our unwavering and indefatigable ally in a number of memorable causes, we will always remember Saeed’s many contributions and dreams for our country that he so dearly loved. He was a staunch advocate of charter change toward a shift from presidential to parliamentary form of government and from unitary to federal system. He helped promote the peace process and socio-economic development of Mindanao. 

As a friend and adviser, we will always cherish Saeed’s well-meaning counsel, sincere affection, and simple ways; his dedication to his late wife, Domini, and to their children and grandchildren.

Saeed mourned with and consoled us and wife Gina when we lost our 16-year-old youngest daughter KC to a fire that destroyed our home in 2004. He reassured us when we lost the presidential elections in 1998 and the speakership in 2008. He supported us in our many political battles, where we won some and lost some. He never abandoned us in our lowest moments. 

Thank you, Saeed, for your many contributions to nation-building. Thank you for standing by us during the most challenging moments in our political life. Thank you for your friendship, which has truly stood the test of time and which we will forever treasure. 
Farewell, dear friend. We will surely miss you.