By Alec Go
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. returned to the Philippines Thursday, following his participation in the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Labuan Bajo, with renewed calls and commitments on key matters in the region.
In his arrival speech, Marcos said his participation put a stress on upholding the international rules-based system to back regional security, peace and order in ASEAN, as well as support for community-building efforts.
“I expressed our commitment to the principles of free trade and the multilateral trading system, called for enhanced support for “nano” businesses, MSMEs, and their integration into the global economy. We continue to work towards long-term food and energy security; and to address the impacts of climate change, amongst other things,” he said.
Marcos said the summit was a success, with new directions agreed on by member states.
“[Many] new ideas were ventilated and many of those were adopted and we will see – hopefully see some progress on the political front and certainly on the economic front,” he said.
Crisis response
According to the President, member states have agreed to adjust their approach on the Myanmar conflict to engage all active factions and those involved in the crisis. This, aside from the Five-Point Consensus adopted by ASEAN.
“We have laid out the Five-Point Consensus and we put it forward to Myanmar but it has been two years and there has been no movement and we decided we must try – we must do it in other way,” he said.
“And there are many members who have experience in these long ongoing political negotiations and the advice is to engage everyone equally. And that is what we intend to do,” he continued.
Marcos also noted that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is causing insecurity on food and energy.
Moreover, he reiterated that the Philippines remains committed to peaceful resolutions on the West Philippine Sea conflicts.
He said he also “advocated for a rules-based maritime order” anchored on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Meanwhile, Marcos said the Philippines supports the full membership of Timor Leste in ASEAN.
Marcos flew to Indonesia on May 9 for the summit. He also met with Laos and Vietnamese leaders on the sidelines of the event.
He is set to participate again in the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September.
