Binay leaves for 2-week study at Harvard

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay left yesterday for the US for a two-week study on Senior Executives in National and International Security (NIS) course at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Binay, concurrent chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the head of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (PTFAIR), is expected to discuss the state of security in Southeast Asia.

“It is important for us to learn ways on how to strengthen our national security. It will also gives us the opportunity to share our experience in terms of security and learn from the experiences of other countries,” Binay said.

Binay said he is attending the program using his personal funds.

The NIS offers “a setting for senior executives to deepen their understanding of current security issues, exercise their evaluation and decision-making skills in a group of their peers, and contribute their own ideas and perspectives.”

Binay said the program, which will run from Aug. 14 to 26, includes formal classes, groups discussion, interactive seminars, exercises, guest speakers and informal conversation on security and management related issues.

For this year, Binay said the NIS will tackle security issues in South Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Arab regions, US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, the US military and strategy security issues, nuclear terrorism, cyber security, counter terrorism, among others.

“We have much to gain from this learning program. It could provide us insights on how we could address our own security problems here in the Philippines,” Binay said.

Participants of the NIS typically include flag and general officers from the uniformed military as well as equivalent senior civilian leaders in government, international organizations and defense industries.