ASEAN summits are more than motorcades, road closures, traffic jams and world leaders exchanging handshakes and smiles before the cameras.
The 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila is no different.
Beyond the diplomatic ceremonies and carefully worded declarations are issues that hit close to home: the price of rice, the cost of fuel, job availability and the economic security of ordinary Filipino families.
These are concerns that the Philippines has rightly placed at the center of its ASEAN chairmanship.
When the Philippines assumed the chairmanship in January, few could have anticipated that war in the Middle East would once again send shock waves through global energy markets. For Southeast Asian economies heavily dependent on imported fuel, the consequences were immediate and painful.
To its credit, our government recognized that ASEAN could not afford to conduct business as usual.
At the Cebu summit in May, the Philippines steered the regional bloc toward three pressing priorities: energy security, food security and the protection of ASEAN nationals caught in conflicts abroad. This was not a lowering of ASEAN’s ambitions. It was a practical response to the realities confronting its people.
After all, food and fuel security are challenges that no Southeast Asian country can effectively address alone. This is particularly true for the Philippines, which imports nearly all its petroleum requirements and remains heavily dependent on imported rice.
In Cebu, ASEAN leaders explored mechanisms to share fuel supplies during emergencies, including establishing a regional petroleum reserve. They also pushed for a regional petroleum security agreement and stronger cooperation to safeguard food supplies.
Equally important was the commitment to strengthen trade within ASEAN and reinforce existing regional food security mechanisms.
These initiatives will not magically bring down gasoline prices or make rice cheaper tomorrow. But they can provide a much-needed cushion against future disruptions.
The objective is simple: a crisis thousands of kilometers away should not automatically translate into soaring prices, disrupted livelihoods or empty shelves in Filipino communities.
Beyond food and fuel, the Philippine chairmanship has also placed economic opportunities and job creation firmly on the regional agenda.
One particularly promising initiative is the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which is expected to advance this month. Envisioned as the world’s first binding region-wide digital economy agreement, it could help create a more integrated digital marketplace serving nearly 700 million people.
For Filipino freelancers, online entrepreneurs, small businesses and workers in the business process outsourcing industry, harmonized digital rules could mean easier access to customers, fewer barriers to cross-border transactions and greater opportunities to compete beyond Philippine shores.
The potential is enormous, particularly for a country whose greatest economic asset remains its people.
At the same time, Philippine trade officials have used the ASEAN chairmanship to promote investment opportunities in renewable energy, critical minerals, semiconductors and other emerging industries.
These may sound like abstract economic priorities, but their implications are very real. Investments create businesses, businesses generate employment, and employment puts food on Filipino tables.
There is also an immediate economic dividend from hosting ASEAN. With some 650 meetings scheduled throughout the year, the chairmanship has generated business for hotels, restaurants, transportation operators, caterers, event organizers and countless local suppliers.
Behind every international conference are Filipino workers earning wages, small enterprises securing contracts and communities benefiting from increased economic activity.
The benefits can extend well beyond the meetings themselves. Every foreign delegate who leaves with a favorable impression of the Philippines becomes a potential advocate for the country as a tourism and investment destination.
Diplomatically, the chairmanship has also provided the Philippines with an opportunity to demonstrate regional leadership.
Its efforts to facilitate dialogue between Thailand and Cambodia, alongside ASEAN’s welcome of Timor-Leste into the regional community, underscore the importance of diplomacy, cooperation and consensus-building.
Such achievements may not immediately translate into lower household expenses, but they strengthen the country’s credibility and influence in a region increasingly shaped by geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
And credibility matters. Countries that command respect are better positioned to protect their interests, attract investment and help shape regional decisions.
But of course, supporting the Philippine chairmanship does not mean giving the government a blank check.
Announcements must eventually produce results. Regional fuel security arrangements must become operational. Digital integration must benefit small entrepreneurs, not merely multinational corporations. Investment commitments must translate into actual factories, businesses and jobs. And the economic gains from hosting must reach local enterprises and ordinary workers.
These are reasonable expectations, and the administration should deliver.
As for the inevitable traffic disruptions and inconvenience that accompany international summits, perhaps a little patience is warranted.
Road closures are the most visible cost of hosting ASEAN. The more important question is whether the benefits will still be felt long after the motorcades have disappeared and the delegates have returned home.
Ultimately, ASEAN should not be judged merely by the number of declarations signed, meetings concluded or photographs taken.
Its real measure of success is whether regional cooperation makes everyday life more secure and creates greater opportunities for the people it is supposed to serve.
By putting food, fuel and jobs at the forefront of its chairmanship, the Philippines has chosen priorities that ordinary Filipinos can understand and appreciate. That is a direction worth supporting.
But the true test of leadership will come after the summit, when diplomatic promises must become tangible economic gains.
For ASEAN to matter to Filipinos, its achievements must be felt not just in conference halls, but in markets, workplaces and Filipino homes.
For comments, email maryannreyesphilstar@gmail.com.