MANILA – The 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Summit and Related Summits in Cebu on May 8 to 9 will push through, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Silang, Cavite, Marcos said the decision to proceed followed consultations with fellow Southeast Asian leaders.
“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?’” Marcos said.
“The consensus that we came to is 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,” he added.
Marcos said the 48th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit and Related Summits would be “very bare bones,” noting that the focus will be on three main subjects – oil, food, and migrant workers.
He stressed the importance of the upcoming summit in helping ASEAN leaders determine “what do we do in the future, what do we do for the rest of the year, how can we help each other, and what is the ASEAN position regarding all of these shocks that are coming our way.”
“We will be talking about the three main subjects – about the supply of petroleum and petroleum products, about the supply of food and the price of food and migrant workers,” Marcos said.
The 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, scheduled for Nov. 10 to 12 in Pasay City, will “tentatively” push through, as it is an important engagement where other world leaders are expected to attend, the President also said.
As part of its chairship of ASEAN in 2026, the Philippines is hosting 650 ministerial and senior official meetings.
Senate leaders have expressed support for postponing the Philippines’ hosting of this year’s ASEAN Summit due to economic pressures caused by the impact of the Middle East conflict and soaring oil prices.
The move was seen to help the government save over PHP17 billion.
They proposed the reallocation of funds originally intended for the country’s hosting of the summit to offset the effects of Middle East tensions on the economy. (PNA)