PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said the Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Leaders’ Summit in May would push through despite the war in the Middle East.
In a media interview following the graduation rites of the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang, Cavite, Marcos said the region’s leaders would focus discussions on oil supply, food security and the welfare of migrant workers.
“We have consulted with our counterparts in the 10 other member states. And the question that I asked them is very simple: Would you prefer — because everybody is busy with the oil crisis going on, because of the war in the Middle East — would you like to postpone the Asean Summit? The consensus that we came to is that it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts,” he said.
“So, that is what we are going to do. We will continue [the] Asean Summit,” he said.
The president said the 48th Asean Leaders’ Summit and Related Summits will be “very bare bones,” focusing only on urgent and essential issues.
“What we really need at this time is for us leaders to talk to know what do we do in the future, what do we do for the rest of the year, what do we do, how can we help each other, and what is the Asean position regarding all of these shocks that are coming our way,” he said.
Marcos said the 49th Asean Summit and Related Summits in November would “tentatively” proceed as scheduled.
“Tentatively, the Leaders’ Summit in November will push through since it’s also important because other world leaders will be coming here from Europe, China, Korea and Japan. All of these matters need to be discussed,” he said.
Marcos said that by September or October, he would again ask other world leaders if the Leaders’ meeting would proceed.
As part of its chairmanship of Asean in 2026, the Philippines is hosting 650 ministerial and senior official meetings.
On Tuesday, Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste urged the Office of the President to reduce its P22.9-billion budget for this year’s Asean summit.
Leviste filed House Bill 911, which seeks to cut the projected expenses and reallocate the funds to measures aimed at easing the impact of fuel price hikes.
In 2017, when the Philippines last hosted the Asean Summits and related meetings, it allocated P16.747 billion, of which only 51 percent or P8.572 billion was disbursed.
Marcos declared on Tuesday a state of national energy emergency, citing risks to the country’s domestic fuel supply created by the war.
The import-dependent country has seen the price of fuel hit historic highs since the US-Israeli war with Iran forced the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The war has also affected millions of guest workers from Asean states who are living in countries caught in the crossfire.
It was not immediately clear if other pressing priorities, including the civil war raging in Myanmar or a long-gestating code of conduct between the bloc and China over the South China Sea, would be completely off the table for discussion.
