Amid regional issues, Marcos emphasizes importance of rules-based system
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. arrived back home Thursday evening from the “success” of the 42nd meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations where the chief executive emphasized the importance of the rules-based system.
This is amid discussions on the situation in Myanmar as well as concerns in the South China Sea, where a number of Southeast Asian nations have competing claims in.
ASEAN leaders also tackled discussions on business and economic plans, particularly with the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community Post-2025 Vision. Marcos Jr. said he also expressed support for Timor Leste’s accession to the regional bloc.
“I believe that the summit was a success and that it charted new directions initiated by the chairman, [Indonesian] President [Joko] Widodo, and with the concurrence of all the member states, many new ideas were ventilated and many of those were adopted,” Marcos Jr. said in his arrival speech on Thursday evening.
The trip to Labuan Bajo, Indonesia for the 42nd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits concludes the chief executive’s busy first week of May, from travelling to the United States for an official working visit to attending the coronation of King Charles III in the United Kingdom.
Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment “to the peaceful resolution of disputes and advocated for a rules-based maritime order” guided by the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea in dealing with disputes in the South China Sea, where Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam also have claims in.
The president said Wednesday he will be calling on fellow ASEAN leaders to finalize the code of conduct in the waters.
Meanwhile, Marcos Jr. said he also called on Myanmar to adhere to the five-point consensus.
Southeast Asian nations have made "no significant progress" on implementing a peace plan to end the bloodshed in Myanmar, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Thursday as a summit wrapped up.
Violence in junta-ruled Myanmar dominated the three-day meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the Indonesian island of Flores.
Since the Myanmar military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government in 2021, it has overseen a bloody crackdown on dissent that has killed thousands of people.
ASEAN has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis but its mostly fruitless attempts to enact a five-point plan agreed upon with Myanmar two years ago have fuelled warnings the regional bloc risks irrelevance. — with reports from Agence France-Presse / Martin Abbugao and Allison Jackson
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