The Philippines, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), pushed for people-centered actions as DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian led the 35th Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council on Thursday (March 5) at The Peninsula Manila in Makati City.

As chair of the 2026 ASCC, the DSWD has called for stronger cooperation among ASEAN Member States, particularly on the four strategic priorities: Resilient and empowered families; Inclusive development; Smart youth and innovation; and, Environmentally sustainable and food secure future.

“Our region faces rapidly evolving challenges—technological change, climate-related disasters, economic volatility, and social inequalities. These realities call on us to think strategically and center our development on people and families as the foundation of thriving societies,” Secretary Gatchalian said in his welcome message as ASCC chair.

For the first priority, resilient and empowered families, the ASCC chair highlighted the importance of alternative child care systems, citing the situation in the Philippines.

“In the Philippines alone, more than 4,000 children are waiting to have a family and a forever home between 2023 and 2025. These children, often victim-survivors of abuse, neglect, abandonment, and exploitation, are housed in our residential care facilities. Our goal is to advance and strengthen our adoption and alternative child care systems so that no child grows up without the love, care, and security of a family—or much worse, spends the rest of their childhood in an institution,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.

The DSWD chief also emphasized the need to prepare the region for demographic shifts as there is a growing ageing population in most ASEAN countries.

Secretary Gatchalian also emphasized the need to advance the silver economy to support active ageing and recognize the continued contributions of older persons.

For the third priority — Smart youth and innovation — Secretary Gatchalian said investing in the youth’s participation, digital literacy, creativity and ethical use of emerging innovations will enable the ASEAN to adapt to technological change and global shift.

On disaster resilience and climate action, the Philippines introduced a regional initiative—the Manila–ASEAN Strategic Protocol for Emergency and Comprehensive Transformation (Manila-ASPECT) Framework.

The Manila-ASPECT aims to strengthen ASEAN’s disaster response and coordination mechanisms in line with the “One ASEAN, One Response” principle.

“As advocated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Philippines is pushing for a more robust and adequate ASEAN-wide disaster response system. Coordinated action in disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable food systems is essential to protect communities and livelihoods. Through strengthened regional cooperation and partnerships, ASEAN can enhance its collective capability not only to respond and recover, but to build long-term resilience for our people,” the ASCC chair said.

Amid rising global tensions and the increasing impact of climate-related disasters, the DSWD chief said ASEAN must work more closely together to protect its people and sustain progress across the region.

“The need to bolster regional cooperation is heightened by contemporaneous events at the global context where ASEAN peoples — being the citizens of the world — are not immune to headwinds stemming from broader shifts. We are even closely intertwined with these overlapping and interconnected pressures,” Secretary Gatchalian said. (YADP)