VP Binay off to US for Harvard security course

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Saturday said he will be in the United States from Aug. 14-26 to take up a security course at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. “Mahalagang matuto tayo ng mga pamamaraan upang mas lalong mapatibay ang seguridad ng ating bansa," Binay said in a statement, noting he will take up the Senior Executives in National and International Security (NIS) course. Binay will also discuss the state of security in Southeast Asia during his two-week stay in the US, according to the Vice President. “May pagkakataon tayo na magbahagi ng karanasan ng Pilipinas sa usaping pang-seguridad." The Office of the Vice President said Binay will attend the program using personal funds. Binay — the concurrent chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and the head of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment — will leave for the US at 10 p.m. Saturday via Philippine Airlines flight PR-102. Related issues Citing the Harvard Kennedy School, the OVP said 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." The program runs from August 14 to 26, and includes formal classes, discussion groups, interactive seminars, exercises, guest speakers, and informal conversations on security- and management-related issues. “For this year, NIS will tackle security issues in South Asia, Africa, South East 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," Binay said. Participants to 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. — JE/VS, GMA News