Press Release
October 13, 2006

VILLAR LEADS DELEGATION OF RP
LEGISLATORS TO IPU MEET IN GENEVA

Senate President Manny Villar, together with seven other senators, will attend the 115th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland next week.

The other senators who will attend the IPU meeting together with Villar are Senators Juan Flavier, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Francis Pangilinan, Rodolfo Biazon, Jamby Madrigal, Franklin Drilon and Pia Cayetano.

This will be an excellent opportunity for legislators from across the world to exchange ideas and opinions on how to create a safe world while improving the quality of human life and universal freedom, says Villar, President of the Nacionalista Party.

I am very hopeful that this gathering will produce solid strategies in our pursuit of global peace and development that would benefit the citizens of the world, adds Villar.

Comprised of the parliaments of sovereign states and established in 1889, the IPU serves as a forum for worldwide parliamentary dialogues, the establishment of democracy and peace in the world, among other objectives.

Topping next weeks assembly agenda is the cooperation between parliaments and the United Nations in promoting world peace particularly in the perspectives of the fight against terrorism and energy security; the role of parliaments in overseeing the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals as regards the debt problem and the eradication of poverty and corruption; and the issue of missing persons.

IPU assemblies are held twice a year. The Geneva assembly will be a precursor to the bigger 116th assembly which is set for May next year in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Philippines hosted the 112th IPU assembly last year at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) that was attended by more than 1,500 lawmakers.

Four resolutions were adopted by the 112th General Assembly encouraging lawmakers worldwide to address the problems of Third World debt, HIV/AIDS, disasters and war crimes.

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