University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) Chancellor, Dr. Melinda dela Peňa Bandalaria, delivered a message during the Closing Program of the 1st ASEANnale held on 28 February to 2 March 2018 at the Asian Center, UP Diliman, Quezon City. Her message was a call to harness the spirit of ASEAN that was captured during the ASEANnale 2018, a biennial event that brought together the 1st Film and Multimedia Competition and Exhibition and the 2nd International Symposium on ASEAN Studies (2nd ISAS).
Chancellor Bandalaria, representing UPOU as one of the main organizers of the event, delivered her message on the last day of the first ASEANnale. She focused on the words “first” and “last” which were opposite in meaning and represents the two ends of a continuum. “They can be near or far from each other but they have to be connected for them to convey their meanings.” One can be the first or the last depending on the perspective of the observer and these perspectives may differ depending on which of the 10 ASEAN country looks at it, but difference is still celebrated in tandem with diversity – the true ASEAN way.
The ASEANnale 2018, which primary aims to promote collaboration among ASEAN academicians, experts, multimedia artists, filmmakers, and scholars, exemplifies 4 Cs – Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination and Communication, says Chancellor Bandalaria. “This is what truly defines the ASEAN Spirit.” Along with the challenge of harnessing what has been started, she expressed the hope of bringing the next ASEANnale conferences to the other 9 countries of the ASEAN, especially the next one which shall be held in 2020.
ASEANnale 2018 is a product of the collaboration of the University of the Philippines Open University, Commission on Higher Education (CHED), U.P. Diliman Asian Center, the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication, TVUP, International Communication Society and the University of the Philippines System, and the UP Open University Foundation Inc.(UPOUFI). It carried an overarching theme of “Capturing the spirit of ASEAN in the Digital Time,” and focused on the three current concerns shared and addressed by numerous parties in the region—Diaspora, Disasters and Democracy. (ACLlamas)
