One of the first initiatives of the Philippines as Chair of the ASEAN Committee in Lisbon, Portugal (ACLP) starting 01 July 2020 was a two-hour special feature of the music of the ten ASEAN countries organized together with the Portuguese international web radio station, CBFwebRadio to commemorate the 53rd Founding Anniversary of ASEAN. The special feature also aimed to promote and share the rich and diverse musical traditions of ASEAN.
CBFwebRadio is an online radio station, broadcasting music around the world, 24 hours a day with the purpose of embracing the world through traditional music. The special feature was aired four times over CBFwebRadio’s online station (www.cbfwebradio.com) last 08 August 2020.
The Philippine, Indonesian, and Thai resident missions in Portugal, which comprise the ACLP, were joined by the non-resident ASEAN missions of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam in Paris, and the Myanmar Embassy in Rome to participate in the special music feature. Each ASEAN Embassy provided traditional music that best represented and identified their country, with each Head of Post giving a short introductory words about their country and their chosen music.
The ASEAN Ambassadors and representatives thanked Philippine Ambassador Celia Anna M. Feria for leading a great and pioneering initiative. Under the “new normal” brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador Feria, ACLP Chair, encouraged other ACLP members to re-invent the implementation of initiatives, projects and activities of ACLP, and finding more innovative ways to promote ASEAN through the use of cost-free and available online and digital platforms.
