THE Philippines Studies Program at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies or ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore will be extended until 2026.

This is after the Philippine Embassy in Singapore signed a Deed of Donation with ISEAS at the Heng Mui Keng Terrace in Singapore.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, who initiated the program years ago to promote Philippine culture, arts, history, security, environment and economy, among others, in various prestigious international universities, personally witnessed the signing of the agreement.

The program aims to promote a deeper understanding of the Philippines among Filipino and foreign students abroad. It receives funding support from the Philippine government through the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The funding will be used to support research, events and other activities advancing the project under the Regional Strategic and Political Studies at ISEAS.

Under the recent agreement, the grant to the institute shall remain in force until June 30, 2026.

During the event, Choi Shing Kwok, the director and chief executive officer of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said that the Institute welcomes the extension of the funding for the project and that they are looking for other grant providers to supplement the program.

He added that since the inception of the program in 2019, “there is quite intense interest in the subjects that have been researched by our people and the Philippines project. And in fact, the readership is very high, the quality of researchers have been engaging, most exclusively Filipinos have all been quite high as well.”