The 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related meetings, scheduled for May in the Philippines, will prioritize advancing energy security, ensuring stable food supply, and protecting Southeast Asians abroad amid the ongoing Middle East crisis, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro announced on Thursday.
Philippines Ready to Host High-Level Meeting
Lazaro stated that the Philippines is prepared to convene the summit, which will gather leaders and senior officials from ASEAN member states in Cebu on May 8. “Our focus will be on the most pressing imperatives of our time—fortifying energy security, stabilizing food supplies and, above all, guaranteeing the absolute safety and welfare of ASEAN nationals, no matter where they are in the world,” she said during a forum organized by the Jakarta-based Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) and Atma Jaya University in Indonesia.
The top Filipino diplomat emphasized that this agenda demonstrates ASEAN's commitment to working together and exploring ways to address the impacts of disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. “This, for me, is a testimony that, a manifestation that ASEAN is really gearing up, being very cohesive in addressing many issues, and probably other issues in the future,” she added.
Supply Chain Disruptions and Summit Context
The upcoming meeting comes in the wake of supply chain disruptions triggered by the Iran war that erupted in February, further exacerbated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which more than 25 percent of global crude oil passes. This summit will be the first of two ASEAN summits to be held in the Philippines this year, with the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings scheduled for November in Pasay City.
Myanmar Situation and Five-Point Consensus
In the lead-up to the May summit, Lazaro noted that Manila continues to act as a bridge among stakeholders in Myanmar under the framework of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), a peace plan adopted by ASEAN leaders in 2021. As the special envoy of the ASEAN chair to Myanmar, Lazaro acknowledged recent developments in the Southeast Asian nation, including the establishment of a new government, and stressed the urgent need for full implementation of the 5PC.
“Now, there are certain pronouncements that they're making—releasing of political prisoners, hopefully putting Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest and release of the former president,” she said. “These are indication on their part, however, they have not—and this was the essence of the (foreign ministers’) retreat that we had in Cebu—that they have not really complied with the Five-Point Consensus.”
Lazaro emphasized that ASEAN will continue to use the 5PC as the sole framework for addressing the situation in Myanmar. “We still believe that until they have complied with what is stipulated in the Five-Point Consensus, then the relations will still be the same situation as before,” she stated.
COC Talks Progressing
Under the Philippines' chairship, Lazaro reported that ASEAN and China are holding regular meetings to finalize a substantive code of conduct in the South China Sea (COC) within the target timeline of 2026. Without providing specifics, she revealed that there is now “some movement” in the ongoing negotiations for the anticipated pact.
“I always say that I’m an optimist but also a pragmatist. It has been, in the discussions that we had, our view, and I guess ASEAN and China, to endeavor to finish the COC by the end of this year,” she said. “And I can tell you right now that there is that possibility, because what is happening now, every month the group meets, the negotiators meet.”
Following the ASEAN foreign ministers’ retreat in Cebu in January, Lazaro said talks have been held monthly, including in Indonesia in February and in China earlier this month.
