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PBBM to raise food and energy security, South China Sea issues during ASEAN Summit
PBBM to raise food and energy security, South China Sea issues during ASEAN Summit
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will raise before his fellow state leaders during the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit issues concerning food and energy security, digital transformation and economy, as well as the South China Sea.
In a pre-departure briefing on Friday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Daniel Espiritu said part of the President's top priority during the gathering is the post-pandemic economic recovery and the digital transformation and economy.
But not lost in the President's agenda will be the country's stand on the South China Sea as parts of which are still being claimed by other countries despite an Arbitral Ruling in favor of the Philippines.
"The South China Sea will also be there because we always carry that in all of our meetings in international fora," Espiritu said.
Aside from that, Marcos will also lay out his foreign policy priorities as the 17th chief executive of the Philippines, as well as his take on climate change, Espiritu said.
He added Marcos will reiterate the country's call for the implementation of the five-point consensus, which was agreed by ASEAN member states to stop violence in junta-ruled Myanmar, and to call for a dialogue among concerned parties.
"We are, of course, calling for the cessation of hostilities and the return of the concerned parties to the negotiating table," he said.
"We'll have to discuss also the negative impact, the global impact of the crisis, especially on the global economy, stagflation and...energy shortage food shortage," he added.
Espiritu, the country's diplomat handling ASEAN concerns, said he was surprised by how Marcos, in his first year of presidency, "is very much informed" about the regional bloc.
"Our briefings have been going on even before the ASEAN Summit. He's been getting copies of briefing papers from us," he said.
"And there are also issues on the day to day operations of ASEAN that are brought to his attention through our communications and memory memoranda to him. So he's very well versed on the major issues of ASEAN," he added.