By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The 15th Meeting of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Senior Officials Responsible for Information (SOMRI) kicked off, yesterday, with the arrival of delegates from different ASEAN member states.
However, according to Noel George Puyat, COMRI chair and Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), the meetings will formally start today.
The opening ceremony for today’s meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. at the SMX Convention Center.
Around 4,273 security personnel have been deployed across the city to secure the 50 delegates and their companions.
Puyat confirmed PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar will also attend the event on Friday for the PCOO Roadshow in support of ASEAN.
In a press statement, Puyat said the SOMRI leaders from the ASEAN member states, together with ASEAN Secretariat, will try to reach a consensus on policy guidelines and priority areas in the fields of information and media.
The chairs of the SOMRI working groups will give updates on the outcome of the working group meetings, which he identified as “ASEAN digital broadcasting, content and production, and information, media and training.”
“We will monitor the progress of implementation of work programs and related activities, including the ASEAN Strategic Plan for Information and Media 2016-2025, communication plans in support of ASEAN community, cooperation with dialogue partners, and joint activities for the 50th Founding Anniversary of ASEAN,” he added.
He further said, the Philippines, as the chair of ASEAN 2017, will host a grand commemorative celebration of ASEAN@50 on August 8 and the SOMRI is part of their campaign to boost the promotion for the milestone and use the momentum of the festivity to generate awareness of the ASEAN community./WDJ