Philippine Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (center) and other dignitaries of the Asean Law Association (ALA) grant Manuel V. Pangilinan (third from left), managing director and CEO of First Pacific Co. Ltd. and chairman of Philex Mining Corp., a plaque of appreciation after his speech at the February 28 farewell dinner of the 12th ALA General Assembly held at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Also in the photo are (from left) Michael Toledo, chairman of the Standing Committee on Legal Information at ALA Philippines; Avelino Cruz, newly elected ALA president and former president of ALA Philippines; Indonesian Chief Justice Hatta Ali, PhD, who is also the immediate past president of ALA; Regina Geraldez, secretary-general of ALA; and Indonesia’s Swandy Halim, ALA immediate past secretary-general. Pangilinan urges ALA to help facilitate the region’s economic integration by promoting the rule of law and crafting “converging laws” within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which must have production and supply chains for international exports. Conducted from February 25 to 28 in Manila for the first time since 1995, the assembly pushed for liberalization of cross-border legal services and harmonization of laws in the region. ALA, founded in 1979, is the exclusive affiliate for law as designated by the 2007 Charter of the Asean, which is having its economic integration this year.