The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not recognize, for now, the recently-concluded elections in junta-ruled Myanmar as much as it does not recognize the military that serves as the country's de facto government.

Speaking on behalf of ASEAN, which is currently chaired by the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro made the pronouncement on Thursday, Jan. 29, shortly after a closed-door meeting with her 10 other counterparts during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers (AMM) Retreat in Cebu.

Lazaro said the 11-member ASEAN, which also includes Myanmar, still has no consensus in endorsing the elections there, which had been conducted in three phases.

"We do not, ASEAN does not, recognize the Myanmar military junta as of now," Lazaro said during a press briefing.

And while some ASEAN member states are interested in the outcome of its recent elections, Lazaro said, the bloc still agrees that the military government is not recognized as the legitimate one.

"But it's not... as of now, it does not recognize [the elections]," she said.

"It has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that [were] held in Myanmar," she added.

Before the foreign ministers' meeting in Cebu, Lazaro, in her capacity as Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar, flew to the Burmese capital, where she met with the de facto leader, State Security and Peace Commission's Acting President Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

She said they discussed the Five Point Consensus, which is the basis of ASEAN's current relations with Myanmar.

Recently, Lazaro also sat down with various Burmese stakeholders in Myanmar to tackle the same ASEAN-led consensus.

The bloc's special envoy maintained that all the members do not support the recent polls, although they are hoping for a positive outcome.

"As I said, one of the determining elements is also what will be the pronouncements that will be made by the military government. ASEAN is of the view that even certain compliance in the implementation of the Five Point Consensus is something that will make things move," she said.

"So we're still looking into that matter. The representative of Myanmar was present during the discussions, and there had been some kind of pronouncements that came from the representative of Myanmar," she added.

Situations in Myanmar have an "evolving character," she said, and there are "a number of very pragmatic ways of looking at things."

"Such might evolve into another policy decision at a certain point in time," she said.

Lazaro said ASEAN prefers that Myanmar stay with the bloc. And if there is consensus among the bloc, then "there can be a shift [of its recognition of Myanmar]," she added.