Philippine Honorary Consul in Melbourne Felix Pintado (seated 6th from left) joins the delegates to the International Research Forum on the Philippines held on 11-12 November at La Trobe University in Melbourne. (Photo courtesy of FASTCO)

MELBOURNE, Australia (12 November 2019) – Philippine Honorary Consul in Melbourne Mr. Felix Pintado represented H.E. Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega, Philippine Ambassador to Australia, in the International Research Forum on the Philippines (IRFP) held on 11-12 November 2019 at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Now running on its seventh year, the IRFP is a joint initiative of the Filipino-Australia Student Council (FASTCO) Victoria and the Philippines Australia Studies Network (PASN) of La Trobe University. IRFP gathers academics, scholars and students to discuss their recent scholarly work on the Philippines. This year’s conference theme is “Constructing Philippine Modernities” and featured keynote speeches of Dr. Caslon Chua of Swinburne University of Technology and Dr. Greg Foliente of University of Melbourne. Panel discussions focused on modernity and informality in Metro Manila and Philippine disasters and nationhood.

In the Ambassador’s remarks delivered by Consul Pintado, the Ambassador congratulated FASTCO and PASN and underscored the importance of building further understanding between the Philippines and Australia through academic endeavors and exchanges. The Ambassador said, “Our cooperation on education over the years has built a relationship of mutual respect, a culture of collaboration and a robust partnership that reflects our shared values of democracy, social justice, rule of law and open market economy.”

The Philippines and Australia have strong education and research links and there are close to 10,000 Filipino students studying in Australia. -- END

Philippine Honorary Consul Felix Pintado delivered the remarks of Philippine Ambassador to Australia Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega at the International Research Forum on the Philippines held on 11-12 November in La Trobe University in Melbourne. (Photo courtesy of FASTCO)