The annual summit is being chaired by the country this year.
At the sidelines of a public engagement last Friday (March 27), President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits in the Philippines this May will proceed as scheduled.
He noted that the 11 member states agreed that this is the time to coordinate efforts, particularly as the oil crisis linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to affect economies.
Hence, leaders will prioritized the coordination on urgent issues such as energy, food security, and migrant workers amid global tensions and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The Chief Executive underscored, “Mayroong mga nagtatanong din kung ano y’ung mangyayari sa ASEAN Summit. Nagtanong kami sa lahat. We have consulted with our counterparts in other member states, in 10 other member states.”
“And the question that I asked them is very simple. Would you like, would you prefer, because everybody is busy with the oil crisis that’s going on because of the war in the Middle East, would you like to postpone the ASEAN Summit?” the President added.
Marcos then noted that the member states have come into a consensus, which he divulged, “that it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts. So, that is what we are going to do. Ipapatuloy natin ‘yung (we will continue) ASEAN Summit.”
The 48th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit and Related Meetings will happen on May 8 and 9, with PBBM saying that it will be “very bare bones” and will focus on oil, food, and migrant workers.
Meanwhile, the 49th summit, which will happen in Pasay City this November, will “tentatively” be pushing through.
In related news, through a recent executube order, the sweeping energy austerity program is being implemented across the government and will also cover preparations for the country’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits this year.
Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said activities tied to the meetings have been scaled down, with spending trimmed and non-essential events scrapped, stressing that the government is deliberately shifting away from ceremonial excess toward more focused, results-driven engagements.