The Honorable Alberto Lim, Secretary of Tourism, Hon. Arnold Foote, Madam Foote, distinguished members of the FICAC board, excellencies, distinguished guests, my consular colleagues, and spouses, friends, ladies and gentlemen.

Three years ago, the 1st East Asia regional conference was held in the beautiful city of Bangkok, thailand.

We, the members of the Consular Corps of the Philippines, are honored today to host the 2nd east asia regional conference here in Manila. Our organizing committee has prepared a conference which we believe will be frutiful, memorable and enjoyable to all of you.

Several distinguished leaders of our organization will be speaking on the issues most relevant to us today. At the same time, we have included numerous fellowship activities in our program to enable our members to interact and get to know and learn more from each other.

Many of you are visiting us for the very first time. You will find a country with diverse cultures and traditions.

We are the only asian country wehre the majority of the population are Roman Catholics. We carry Spanish names but have American nicknames. Our cuisine is a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Spanish and other influences. And as you must have noticed, we celebrate the longest Christmas season in the world.

But you will all feel at home as almost everyone speaks or understand english. We are a friendly and hospitable people. It is said that our warm weather is matched only by the warmth of our people. For the next few days, we are truly delighted to have you as our distinguished guests. We hope that when you return back to your respective countries, you will carry many memorable and enjoyable memories of your stay in our country.

I can not end without thanking our generous sponsors, particularly the Department of Tourism and the Philippine Tourism Promotions Board, without whose support, this conference would not have been possible. And to the hardworking members of the organizing committee, I am truly grateful.

To all of you, mabuhay!