MSU-IIT launches ASEAN Week
by Christine F. Godinez Ortega, Office of Publication & Information (OPI)
Referring to the role of the university, the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT) Chancellor Sukarno D. Tanggol declared that MSU-IIT is committed to a quality standard in the development of human resource even as the Institute is in the process of realizing and completing its “ASEANess” at the launching of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) week yesterday morning during the Flag Ceremony at the Integrated Developmental School Multi- Purpose Hall (IDS-MPH).
Chancellor Tanggol said that one of the yardsticks of a top caliber university is to find its niche in ASEAN in terms of quality standards through collaborations between countries, to have a number of international students and professors on campus, and to assist in the “labor mobility of students”.
To achieve these, despite negative perceptions, Chancellor Tanggol said “we are an excellent school” but “we need to sacrifice, to be selfless while we are here”.
The Chancellor cited the Norwegian sociologist and mathematician Johan Vincent Galtun of the University of Oslo who has been, among his numerous achievements, a recipient of the first Tun Mahathir Professor of Global Peace at the International Islamic University Malaysia.
Galtun had predicted that the ASEAN will become one of the seven powers in the world. But the Chancellor said he is not certain if this has been fulfilled today, but he is still thankful that the Philippines, as one of the founders of ASEAN is at present one of its active members. 
The ASEAN was organized in 1967 with an original membership of five countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Today, the ASEAN has 10 members. Apart from the founding member countries, membership today includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
During the Flag Ceremony and launching of ASEAN week, the Chancellor also outlined how the country can be in sync with the rest of the nine other ASEAN nations by creating a first rate economic community especially within the BIMP-EAGA region, by securing its borders and by addressing security threats from extremist groups, and by creating a socio-cultural community.
While the Chancellor thanked the organizers led by ASEAN Week Convenor Dr. Darwin J. Manubag, OVCRE Director for Extension, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension (OVCRE), host of the day’s Flag Ceremony, he, the Chancellor said the launching of the ASEAN week in MSU-IIT could be the first of its kind in Visayas and Mindanao.
Dr. Manubag for his part told OPI that he proposed the holding of ASEAN week in MSU-IIT to “raise ASEAN consciousness because of the many opportunities” available within the region as well as “to position the MSU-IIT” as a significant hub within the ASEAN.
The event also included a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Edgar W. Ignacio that opened the ASEAN Food Expo, Travel Expo, Arts Installations and Marketplace at the lawn fronting the Administration building attended by the MSU-IIT faculty and staff and some members of the Iligan community. For the schedule of other activities during ASEAN week at the MSU-IIT check the Institute website: https://msuiit.edu.ph/events/details.php?id=252
The ASEAN week in MSU-IIT comes on the heels of the Philippines hosting of the recently-concluded 30th ASEAN Summit chaired by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on April 26-29, 2017. The summit was declared a success and was attended by Heads of State of all the member countries.
