ASEAN Society Philippines

07/05/2026

On April 21, 900 CE, over a thousand years before ASEAN, a scribe in what is now Laguna inscribed a debt-clearance document on a thin sheet of copper. Written primarily in Old Malay using the Old Javanese (Kawi) script, with Sanskrit technical terms and Old Javanese honorifics, the Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the earliest known calendar-dated document found in the Philippines. It places Tondo, Pailah, and Puliran in conversation with the Medang Kingdom of Central Java — not as distant strangers, but as part of one shared maritime world.

Discovered in 1989 by Ernesto Legisma along the Lumbang River, acquired by the National Museum of the Philippines in 1990, and translated by Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma, the LCI rewrote the Philippine historical timeline. Where colonial textbooks once started Filipino history at 1521, the LCI pushed it back six centuries — and proved that Filipinos and Indonesians were already part of a shared linguistic, legal, and cultural system long before the modern nation-state existed. Today, this thin copper plate sits at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila, a quiet anchor for one of our oldest friendships.

Sources:
https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/864856
https://opinion.inquirer.net/98769/a-receipt-in-copper

07/05/2026

05/05/2026

Long before flags, borders, and treaties — there was the sea. And across it, our ancestors traded, married, fought beside, and learned from peoples we now call our ASEAN family. From a 10th-century Laguna document written in Old Malay, to Filipino warriors who defended Ayutthaya in 1547, to the royal marriages that linked Maynila to Brunei and Sulu — the Philippines has never been an island unto itself.

ASEAN Society Philippines presents "Centuries of Connection", a journey through our deepest ties with each ASEAN member state, including our newest neighbor Timor-Leste. We're going way back, telling the stories that don't always make it into textbooks: the trade routes, the marriages, the migrations, the moments of solidarity that made us cousins long before we became signatories. From the pre-colonial period through the modern era, these are the relationships that built a region.

30/04/2026

This year, the Philippines isn't just hosting ASEAN — it's building it. Among the Philippines' Priority Economic Deliverables for the 2026 ASEAN Chairship are two new Centers of Excellence: one for MSMEs, to provide regional policy support and capacity-building for the small businesses that form the backbone of Southeast Asian economies, and one for the Creative Industries, covering film, music, design, digital media, and other creative sectors. Both are being led by Philippine agencies — the Department of Trade and Industry for MSMEs, and the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council for the creative economy.

For Filipinos, this is what chairmanship means in practice: not just setting the agenda, but building the institutions that will serve the region for years to come. Watch this space — these two centers are just getting started.

🔗 Follow the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairship at www.asean2026.gov.ph

28/04/2026

Japan is one of the Philippines' closest and most enduring partners — a top trading partner, a leading source of development assistance, and home to a large and growing community of Filipinos. Much of that relationship is sustained by the ASEAN-Japan Centre, an institution established in Tokyo in 1981 that has spent more than four decades building bridges between Japan and Southeast Asia. From trade promotion and tourism campaigns to cultural fellowships and exchange programs, the Centre creates genuine pathways for Filipinos to connect with Japan — professionally, academically, and culturally.

In 2026, the Centre is implementing over 30 programs spanning economic cooperation, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchange. For Filipino students, creatives, and professionals, the ASEAN-Japan Centre is worth knowing — and worth exploring.

🔗 Discover open programs and opportunities at www.asean.or.jp/en

23/04/2026

Not all of ASEAN's work happens in conference rooms. The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre (ARMAC), based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, works to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance from communities across Southeast Asia — remnants of conflicts that may have ended decades ago but continue to endanger lives and limit livelihoods today. ARMAC supports national mine action authorities through training, humanitarian standards, and regional coordination, working toward a Southeast Asia where every community can live and work without fear of what lies beneath the ground.

For Filipinos, ARMAC is a reminder that ASEAN's commitment to peace is not just a declaration — it is work that protects real people in real places, including communities in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. This is what lasting peace looks like, built one cleared hectare at a time.

🔗 Learn more at www.aseanmineaction.org

21/04/2026

Energy affects everything — from the electricity in our homes to the price of goods in the market. The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) is the regional body working to make energy in Southeast Asia more secure, affordable, and sustainable. Under the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairship, ACE is now implementing the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2026–2030, a blueprint that the Philippines helped develop and is actively driving — covering renewable energy, energy efficiency, regional power grid connectivity, and a just energy transition that leaves no community behind.

For Filipinos, this means our country's voice is directly shaping how an entire region powers its future. ACE's research, data, and policy tools are also publicly available — meaning you can follow the region's energy story as it unfolds.

🔗 Explore ASEAN's energy data and reports at www.aseanenergy.org

16/04/2026

If you study at UP, UST, De La Salle, Ateneo de Manila, University of San Agustin, University of the Immaculate Conception, or several other Philippine universities, you're already part of an ASEAN institution — the ASEAN University Network (AUN). Founded in 1995, the AUN links 288 universities across Southeast Asia through student exchanges, joint research, and a regional quality assurance program that helps Philippine degrees earn recognition across the region. For Filipino students, this means real opportunities: exchange semesters at partner universities, regional research programs, and an ASEAN Summer Camp that has brought together students from across the bloc.

The AUN is ASEAN's investment in the next generation — and the Philippines has a strong seat at that table.

🔗 Find out if your school is a member and explore open programs at www.aunsec.org

14/04/2026

The Philippines faces more natural disasters than almost any country on earth — typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions are part of our reality. That's why the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) is one of ASEAN's most vital institutions for Filipinos. Established in 2011, it coordinates disaster response across all member states, and has deployed regional assistance to the Philippines multiple times — most notably during Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, when the AHA Centre established the first communications out of the disaster zone in Tacloban and coordinated international aid.

Today, a pre-positioned emergency stockpile warehouse in Manila means that when the next disaster strikes, ASEAN is already here. This is what regional solidarity looks like in practice.

🔗 Follow real-time disaster monitoring and learn more at www.ahacentre.org |

14/04/2026

ASP's President Alma Jimenez shares her thoughts on the private sector's policy priorities in this article.

In 2025, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), through its Trade, Investments and Tourism Committee, undertook the task of gathering inputs from its various sectoral and industry committees to recommend policy priorities to the government. The goal is to maximize the opportunities pre...

09/04/2026

Southeast Asia holds nearly 20% of the world's biodiversity and the center protecting it is right here on Philippine soil. The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), headquartered at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, coordinates conservation work across all ASEAN member states. Three Philippine sites were designated as ASEAN Heritage Parks in 2024 alone: Apo Reef Natural Park, Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary, and Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park. The ACB also runs regional programs that directly protect Philippine coastal and marine ecosystems, supporting the livelihoods of fishing communities across the country.

As the host country of ASEAN's biodiversity center, the Philippines holds a special responsibility — and a special stake — in keeping Southeast Asia's natural heritage alive for generations to come.

📍 Visit the ACB at UP Los Baños, Laguna, or learn more at www.aseanbiodiversity.org