Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda witnessed on June 8, 2023 the signing of the Deed of Donation Agreement between the Philippine Embassy in Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) – Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore at Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore.
Philippine Studies Project (PSP) at ISEAS receives funding support from the Philippine Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The grant to the institute shall remain in force for three (3) years or until June 30, 2026. It shall be used to support research, events, and other activities advancing the PSP under the Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS) at ISEAS.
The Philippines Studies Program was initiated by Legarda many years back to promote Philippine culture, arts, history, security, environment and economy, among others, in various prestigious international universities in pursuit of promoting a deeper understanding of the Philippines among Filipino and foreign students abroad.
ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Director and CEO Choi Shing Kwok was also present at the event and expressed the Institute very much welcomes the extension of the funding for the project and they are looking for other grant providers to supplement the same program.
He added, since the inception of the Program in 2019, there is quite intense interest in the PSP and the subjects that have been researched by Singaporeans. Readership is very high even among Filipinos.
It is the first memorandum of understanding signed by Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Medardo Macaraig.
Currently, there are five other country studies programs offered by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute of Singapore; namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In 2021, the four-term Senator delivered an online lecture at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, shedding light on the enormity of the climate emergency globally and in the Philippines, and showing the urgent need for ambitious and decisive action across all sectors.
In her lecture, the Senator noted, “While the Philippines remains an insignificant emitter of greenhouse gases globally, we are among those most affected by climate change. The shift to a green economy is happening, let it not remain on the fringes. No less than a whole-of-society, a whole-of-government, and indeed a whole-of-planet approach is needed, and we have seen the local seeds of this global movement.”
Legarda also provided similar support for Philippine Studies in other universities including the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London; Universidad de Complutense in Madrid, Spain; New York University; Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany; Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany; University of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany; University of Michigan and the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the USA; the Thammasat University in Thailand; Busan University of Foreign Studies in South Korea; La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia; York University in Canada; Universidad Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico, and the University of Namur in Belgium, among others.
