SECRETARIAT officials and staff of the House of Representatives (HRep) met on Wednesday morning for an administrative briefing on the state of preparations for the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, which will be held on November 23 to 26, 2023 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
HRep Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) for Inter-Parliamentary and Public Affairs Department (IPAD) Atty. Grace Andres explained details of the preparations, based on coordination with Senate counterparts who were unable to attend the briefing due to conflict in schedules. “Rest assured our DSGs and our office will be there to assist everyone (during the APPF),” she said.
Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau (IPRSAB) OIC Executive Director Maria Carmencita Dulay, giving an overview of the APPF program, shared that foreign delegates will start arriving in Manila as early as November 18, while the bulk of the delegates will arrive on November 22.
Travel Support Service Director Maria Arlene Figuero will lead the reception of incoming delegates. House Members will also be present to receive arriving heads of delegations. The House has assigned transport, protocol, and hotel officers, as well as Secretariat and medical teams who will assist the APPF delegates on their needs.
APPF meetings will begin on November 24. “There will be six rooms for simultaneous meetings on different levels with the corresponding House members,” OIC ED Dulay said.
Another meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon wherein the Department of Foreign Affairs gave a briefing to the Substantive Group and HRep delegates. The meeting was attended by House Members, DSGs, IPAD officials, IPRS, House Substantive Group, as well as the Senate Office of International Relations and Protocol and Senate Substantive Group.
The meeting in the morning was attended by Rep. Acidre, House Deputy Secretaries General, as well as officials and staff from the Inter-Parliamentary and Public Affairs Department (IPAD), Office of the Speaker, Office of the Secretary-General (OSG), Committee Affairs Department (CAD), Finance Department, Legislative Security Bureau (LSB), Engineering and Physical Facilities Department (EPFD), Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), Medical and Dental Service (MDS),Administrative Department, and Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS) , among others.
