CANBERRA, Australia (05 March 2020) – Philippine Ambassador to Australia H.E. Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega met the Hon Alex Hawke MP, Minister for International Development and the Pacific and Assistant Minister for Defence of Australia today at Parliament House.

Minister Hawke spoke of the excellent relations of Australia and the Philippines as well as the well-established Filipino community in Australia. Ambassador De La Vega expressed her appreciation to the Minister for the significant development cooperation of the Philippines and Australia in the areas of education, governance and peace-building initiatives in particular in Mindanao. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established in 2019 as a result of the comprehensive peace plan of the Philippine government. END