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Philippine Embassy in Korea celebrates MANA Mo with Forum on “Philippines-Republic of Korea Maritime Cooperation: Taking Stock and Moving Forward"

SEOUL, 21 September 2021 - To commemorate Philippine Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (ManaMo)  and In keeping with this year’s theme of “Our Seas, Our Livelihood, Our Heritage: Connecting Lives and Nations”, the Embassy of the Philippines in Korea held a webinar on 18 September 2021 entitled “Philippines-Republic of Korea Maritime Cooperation: Taking Stock and Moving Forward" with the Philippine Navy’s Chief of Naval Staff Commodore Caesar Bernard N. Valencia serving as keynote speaker.

To bolster both countries’ strong ties in maritime security and naval cooperation, the forum participants included Filipino military cadets and officers studying in Korea and their Korean counterparts from various Korean  military institutions. A total of forty-three (43) participants joined the forum.

In her welcome remarks, Ambassador-designate Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega explained the importance of Maritime and Archipelagic Awareness for the Philippines, the need to build stronger student-officer ties in defense diplomacy, and took the opportunity to brief the forum on the gains of PH and ROK’s maritime cooperation in recent years, including the sourcing of two Philippine navy frigates from Korea.

Commodore Valencia shared the history of PH-ROK maritime cooperation, ongoing and future naval cooperation efforts. He likewise encouraged cadets present to be defense diplomats in their own right.

Reactors former Philippine Defense Attaché to the ROK and current Director of the Center for Naval Leadership and Excellence Capt. Armil Angeles and current PH Defense Attaché Col. Enriqueto Deocadez shared ideas on how to improve current PH-ROK defense cooperation mechanisms, including ways to sustain this. The reactors also highlighted the Philippines' commitment to continuing and strengthening maritime ties fundamental to the long-standing diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea.

An engaging Q&A session followed during which participants  asked questions on ways to promote maritime relations between PH and ROK and furthering maritime awareness of the Philippines as officers and cadets. 

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Philippine Ambassador-designate Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega visits the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)

SEOUL, 20 September 2021-Philippine Ambassador-designate Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega visited the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) headquarters located at the Seoul National University campus on 17 September 2021. Ambassador-designate De Vega had a productive meeting with Dr. Jerome H. Kim, Director General of the IVI and renowned global expert on the evaluation and development of vaccines.

Joining Director-General Kim were heads of the IVI’s various divisions, including Deputy Director General Dr. Ahn Wartel, Filipina healthcare professional Dr. Zenaida Reynoso Mojares, Chief Medical Officer, Ms. Youngmi Cho, Head of Global Affairs & Communications, Dr. Jae Seung Yang, Senior Research Scientist and Mr. Colin McCann, Global Affairs Manager. Ambassador-designate De Vega was joined by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Reisha Olavario.

Dr. Jerome Kim and his team gave a briefing on provided the overall vision and operations of the IVI, its role in the global response to COVID-19, and its future plans as an international organization. Dr. Reynoso-Mojares also briefed the Ambassador-designate on IVI’s vaccine clinical developments, including COVID-19 vaccine developments, IVI COVID-19 vaccine research and development, and IVI clinical trials and studies in the Philippines.

Ambassador-designate De Vega informed of the IVI of the Philippines’ initiatives to create local vaccine manufacturing capacity. She highlighted the Philippines' Vaccine Self Reliance Project (VSRp) led by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) efforts to establish the Virology Science and Technology Institute in New Clark City.

Ambassador-designate De Vega was also given a tour of IVI laboratory facilities.

The IVI has a long history of working with the Philippines on clinical trials, including vaccine clinical trials for diseases such as typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera, dengue, and other non-COVID-19 respiratory pathogens.

The Philippines has been an IVI State Party since 2004.

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