LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has kicked off his participation at the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here.

Philippine Airlines Flight PR001 carrying President Marcos lands at the Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia at 4:53 p.m. on May 9, 2023. (Argyll Geducos)

Philippine Airlines (PAL) Flight PR001 landed at the Komodo Airport at 4:53 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9.

Official Summit affairs will start on Wednesday morning, with the ASEAN leaders participating in a group photo. This will be followed by the Summit’s opening session.

ASEAN Leaders will also take part in two interfaces on Wednesday morning, one with representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and the other with representatives of ASEAN Youth.

Marcos will participate in the ASEAN Leaders’ interface with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) representatives in the afternoon. This will be followed by an interface with the High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision (HLTF-ACV).

The Leaders will end their day with a welcome dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

On May 11, President Marcos will participate in the 42nd ASEAN Summit Retreat Session, followed by the 15th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit. This will be followed by the 15th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit.

The Summit will officially conclude with a press conference by Widodo on Thursday afternoon.

During the trip, Marcos is expected to advance the Philippines' priorities in the regional bloc through regional and multilateral cooperation in various areas.

He will also stress the importance of demonstrating ASEAN's centrality in the region amid geopolitical issues.