Intervention by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the 5th ASEAN-Australia Summit
The Honorable Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese,
Your Majesty,
Excellencies,
As ASEAN’s very first Dialogue Partner, Australia has stood shoulder to shoulder with us for more than five decades in building a community of peace, stability, and people-centered prosperity.
It is in this spirit of enduring partnership that the Philippines joins fellow Member States in reaffirming our commitment to the full and timely implementation of the ASEAN–Australia Plan of Action 2025–2029.
More than a roadmap, this Plan of Action embodies the trust and shared resolve that underpin our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
On advancing regional peace and security, we commend Australia’s proactive engagement in ASEAN-led mechanisms and its steadfast support for maritime cooperation and conflict prevention as vital pillars of our shared stability.
Through frameworks such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum, our partnership continues to expand channels of dialogue and strengthen our collective capacity to safeguard our maritime domain.
Building on these shared endeavors, Australia’s leadership under the AUD 64 million Southeast Asia Maritime Partnerships Initiative, together with our co-chairship of the 2025–2027 ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, further underscores our shared resolve to uphold international norms and a rules-based international order.
On our economic cooperation, the Philippines welcomes the entry into force of the Second Protocol to Amend the ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).
We hope this will expand market access, enhance regulatory certainty, and open new opportunities in e-commerce, sustainable trade, and MSME empowerment.
We also recognize the pivotal role of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative as engines of deeper integration and inclusive growth.
This economic dynamism goes hand in hand with our mission to deepen the bonds that connect our peoples.
In this spirit, the Philippines warmly welcomes the establishment of the ASEAN–Australia Centre, whose work in advancing Southeast Asia literacy and fostering education, youth leadership, and cultural exchange will anchor the next generation of ASEAN–Australia relations.
At the same time, we recognize that our cooperation must also secure the planet our future generations will inherit.
We appreciate Australia’s continued investments in climate resilience and marine protection, including the Climate and Clean Energy Window, which strengthens our collective action on climate change and clean energy.
We also encourage Australia’s continued support for the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, particularly in advancing biodiversity conservation and implementing the Post-2025 ASEAN Strategic Plan on Environment under Aus4ASEAN Futures.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
On the South China Sea, it is regrettable that incidents continue to occur in the West Philippine Sea that have unnecessarily put Philippines lives at risk.
Moreover, the unilateral, forceful, illegal attempts to establish the so-called “nature reserve” status over Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal,
which is a longstanding and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction.
Through all these difficulties, Australia has stood with the Philippines and all peace-loving peoples in desisting provocative and coercive actions.
Australia has done this not only in expression of support, for which the Philippines is most grateful, but in the joint exercises with the Philippines, such as the Alon 25, and other allied countries.
This commitment is shared throughout all levels of the government, which desires to conclude an effective and substantive Code of Conduct
that can effectively govern the behavior of parties at sea.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
As the Philippines prepares to assume the ASEAN Chairship in 2026, we look forward to building upon this enduring foundation of friendship and cooperation that has long united our region.
With Australia’s steadfast support, we are confident that we can continue to shape a future of lasting peace and inclusive prosperity that leaves no one behind.
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