SEOUL, 18 August 2026 —Philippine Ambassador Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez highlighted the importance of uniting public and private sectors for disaster response, climate resilience, and sustainable development during the Fellowship of the 2026 KOICA Global Training Program: Capacity Building for Public-Private Governance on Community Volunteer Work in the Philippines (2024–2026) in Gwangju on 18 August 2026. Driven by urbanization and rising natural calamities in the Philippines, the Ambassador emphasized the importance of shifting the focus from reactive crisis management to proactive readiness, allowing communities to recover much faster through shared governance.

Fifteen (15) Philippine officials from Aklan Province are participating in a multi-week invitational training program running from 16 to 29 August 2026. This program marks the third and final stage of a three-year Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Global Training Project that was launched in 2024. The Aklan Province Officials are institutionalizing sustainable volunteering by enacting local ordinances, launching project plans, and building public-private cooperative governance inspired by Gwangju's local systems. END