At the close of this year’s ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. officially accepted the bloc’s chairmanship from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim — a symbolic handover that also placed on the Philippines’ shoulders a set of regional problems with no easy fixes.
Leading the ASEAN bloc is an “enormous responsibility,” Marcos told reporters after the ceremony. “But at the same time, it provides us great opportunities.” For 2026, Manila will have to prove that optimism can hold up as it inherits regional issues that have tested the bloc’s unity and credibility, while itself trying to finalize a long-sought code of conduct to manage tensions in the South China Sea. These are the three major issues the Philippines will face as it chairs ASEAN in 2026.
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