Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said on Saturday, Nov. 25 that the Philippine Congress' hosting of the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) was a success and led to the strengthening of the ties between the countries that took part in the event.

"Umaasa tayo na masusundan ito ng maraming follow-up bilateral meetings and parliamentary exchanges upang maisakatuparan ang mga commitments na nagawa natin sa pag-host ng APPF (We're hoping that this will be followed up with numerous bilateral meetings and parliamentary exchanges in order to fulfill the commitments we made in hosting APPF)," Zubiri said in a statement.

He added that no major untoward incident or issue came up, even in the discussions of the different committees.  

He said that the country's senators and congressmen, who chaired the different committees, did a great job in steering the discussions within their respective committees.  

"Proof of this, is that, all the 10 resolutions endorsed by the working groups have been adopted in the drafting committee, which will then be endorsed to the final plenary to be part of the joint Ccmmuniqué to be adopted or issued as the final document of the 31st APPF," he said. 

The 10 resolutions were endorsed and all 10 were adopted by the drafting committee. 

"It was a perfect score, a reflection of the amazing job put in place by the respective chairs and co-chairs and of course the active participation of all delegates from the 19 countries represented," added the Senate chief.

The following topics comprised the 10 resolutions:

• Strengthening the Capacity of Parliaments to Promote Peace and Stability
• Korean Peninsula
• Combatting Transnational Crimes
• Rethinking Critical Infrastructure
• Enhancing Regional Cooperation on Climate Action, Biodiversity Conservation, and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth
• Regional Cooperation through Education and Culture
• Regional Cooperation on Universal Health Care in the Asia-Pacific
• Gender and Sustainable Development Goals
• Women’s Participation and Leadership

Other than the adoption of these resolutions, Zubiri said that they were able to lobby for the Philippines' bid for a seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the period 2027-2028 and that they secured firm and new commitments from the countries they have approached.

"In fact some of them even wrote us to formalize their commitments. This is a big achievement not only for our hosting of the APPF but also for the administration of President BongBong Marcos which shows that the main branches of government are collaborating and working in unison for our national interests," he said.

Zubiri also thanked those who helped and were involved in hosting the 31st APPF from his co-chair, House Speaker Martin Romualdez; the head of the Philippine delegation Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa; and head of political and security matters, Cong. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr; the Drafting Committee Chairman, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda; Senator Pia Cayetano (Plenary on Womens Parliamentarians), Senator Francis Tolentino (Regional Cooperation), Senator Win Gatchalian (Trade and Economic Matters), Senator Mark Villar (Plenary on Young Parliamentarians); and the other senators who sat in the Philippine delegation, namely Senators Nancy Binay, Robinhood Padilla, Imee Marcos, Jinggoy Estrada (co-chair of political and security matters), and all the solons who attended the proceedings and activities in the last three days.

The Senate has been designated as the host for the preparations for the prestigious annual meeting of parliamentarians. The House of Representatives was co-host.

One of the APPF's founding members, the Philippines, sponsored the first meeting in 1994.