Ms. Erlinda “Dang” Uy Koe, Chair Emeritus of the Autism Society Philippines (ASP) and immediate former Chair of the ASEAN Autism Network (ANN), was chosen as the inaugural recipient of the ASEAN Prize.
Ms. Koe received the ASEAN Prize from the current ASEAN Chair and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the opening ceremony of the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore on 13 November 2018. Ms. Koe also received USD20,000 as cash prize.
For her autism advocacy work, Ms. Koe, who served three consecutive terms as ASP National President, received the 2013 Apolinario Mabini Award for Volunteer Service in the PWD sector and the University of Santo Tomas’ 2009 The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni Award for Humanitarian Service.
In 2016, ASP hosted all ASEAN Member States and Japan for the ASEAN Autism Friendship Games and the Angels Walk for Autism, a tradition that has become an annual event.
AAN was organized by the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in December 2010. AAN is comprised of autism-related family support group organizations representing the 10 ASEAN Member States.
AAN serves as a platform for each ASEAN Member State to collaborate, cooperate, coordinate and unite in developing non-discriminatory strategies and intervention programs to support families - including those who are economically challenged. AAN’s focus is on localized, affordable, accessible and inexpensive approaches to ensure sustainability throughout the life-span of persons with autism in the ASEAN region.
The ASEAN Prize was launched on 26 September 2018 to honor inspiring achievements and inspiring contributions of an individual or organization, inter alia, to the building of a rules-based, people-oriented, people-centered ASEAN Community, and intra ASEAN collaborative efforts, in the following focused areas, taking into account the theme of ASEAN, as designated by the ASEAN Chair in that particular year:
- Outstanding collaboration between ASEAN Member States (AMS);
- Outstanding collaboration between ASEAN and the world;
- Outstanding people-to-people engagement among AMS;
- Outstanding economic integration and promotion of standards between AMS; or
- Other outstanding contributions to ASEAN Community Building.
The ASEAN Prize is envisaged as a premier regional award and proposed, wherever possible, to be bestowed at the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit.
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