Press Conference of His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines for the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings

OPENING STATEMENT:

Thank you, Dave, our PCO Communications Office Secretary, Dave Gomez; the other members of the Philippine Cabinet that are here.

Good afternoon.

On behalf of the Filipino people, let me begin by thanking the members of the press for joining us here in Cebu for the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings.

Your work of translating the outcomes of ASEAN into stories that matter to families across Southeast Asia is not merely appreciated; it is indispensable.

The Philippines, as Chair, considers you as partners in telling ASEAN’s story.

That partnership carries special weight at this moment. The global landscape has rarely been more complex or more consequential.

In the past two months alone, rising oil prices driven by the Middle East conflict have pushed up the cost of basic goods and placed ASEAN nationals in harm’s way around the world.

It is precisely against this backdrop that the 48th ASEAN Summit convened — and that ASEAN’s unity and centrality matter most, especially in such times.

Yesterday, the Philippines hosted the Special Summit of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Leaders adopted the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2035, setting a ten-year agenda across connectivity, food and energy security, digital transformation, and sustainable development.

We also discussed concrete fuel and food arrangements, and initiatives to advance renewable energy across our sub-region.

Today, ASEAN Leaders convened here in Cebu for the Summit proper.

As Chair, the Philippines advanced three (3) urgent, interrelated priorities.

1. Regional Energy Security and Resilience. Leaders agreed on the importance of stable and reliable energy supply chains, greater energy interconnectivity, and accelerated diversification toward renewable and alternative sources, aligned with our long-term climate commitments and designed to reduce dependence on volatile external markets.

Now two concrete steps stand out.

First, we called for the expedited ratification of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security (APSA), which ensures mutual support among Member States during supply shortages.

Second, we pushed for the operationalization of the ASEAN Power Grid—connecting the electricity networks of all eleven Member States to enable cross-border power trading, support renewable integration, and deliver more affordable electricity to nearly
700 million people.

2. Food Security. Rising energy prices, disrupted shipping routes, and soaring fertilizer costs are squeezing families across the region.

Leaders agreed to keep essential goods moving, maintain open and predictable markets, strengthen intra-ASEAN trade, and reinforce regional food security mechanisms.

This means building more resilient supply chains, supporting agri-MSMEs and smallholder farmers, promoting climate-smart agriculture, and reinforcing ASEAN-led food reserve systems.

We also called for the swift ratification of the upgraded ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), which modernizes regional trade, eliminates non-tariff barriers, and builds on ATIGA’s landmark achievement of making ASEAN virtually tariff-free, with around 99% of products already duty-free. Critically, its crisis provisions ensure that essential goods continue to flow during emergencies.

3. Safety of ASEAN Nationals Abroad.
For the Philippines, this remains a deeply important priority. Millions of Filipinos live and work overseas—in shipping, healthcare, construction, and other sectors vulnerable to global disruptions.

ASEAN agreed to work more closely together through faster coordination, accelerated information-sharing, stronger cooperation with host governments, and timely support for those ASEAN nationals who may need urgent assistance, evacuation, and/or repatriation.

Across all of these three priorities, ASEAN agreed that our response must remain people-centered.

We also recognized the role of innovation: AI and digital tools can sharpen energy forecasting, food system monitoring, and [social] protection delivery—provided they remain anchored in human judgment, accountability, and global standards.

At the Plenary Session earlier today, we welcomed the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda for ASEAN, including through programs in regional connectivity, capital markets, AI readiness, energy security, food security, blue economy, social protection, and health.

We look forward to enhancing our cooperation with ADB through its planned support for major ASEAN initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid, ASEAN Capital Markets Initiative, AI readiness, blue economy, and resilient rivers.

Similarly, we thank Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) President Tetsuya Watanabe for briefing our ASEAN Foreign and Economic Ministers on ERIA’s proposed study for a regional oil stockpile, which the Philippines strongly supports.

The follow-through of this study into concrete policy recommendations will provide us another opportunity to strengthen the region’s shared energy security.

In view of the above, we issued the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the Response to the Middle East Crisis, which outlines practical measures for ASEAN’s collective response on the situation and sets the foundations for a coordinated regional response to future crises.

Another significant outcome was the adoption of the Cebu Protocol to Amend the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

This marks the first amendment to the ASEAN Charter since 2007. It’s an important milestone not only for Timor-Leste’s full integration into ASEAN, but also for ASEAN’s continuing evolution as a stronger and more inclusive regional community.

We also recognized the extensive work and progress across the Political-Security, Economic, and Socio-Cultural Community Pillars, as we began the first year of implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, which sets the direction for ASEAN for the next two decades
as an epicenter of growth in the Indo-Pacific.

Further, we also adopted several key documents that will reinforce cooperation in critical areas,
such as:

1. First, the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Maritime Cooperation, which seeks to reaffirm ASEAN’s collective commitment to strengthen maritime cooperation and highlights the multi-dimensional nature of maritime issues. The Declaration also includes the proposal for the establishment of an ASEAN Maritime Centre in the Philippines.

2. Second, the ASEAN Declaration on the Empowerment of Youth in Climate Action and Disaster Resilience. This recognizes that young people must be part of how we prepare for climate risks and disasters, as this is the future that they will inherit.

3. Third, the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the ASEAN Convergence on Disaster Response: the ASEAN Strategic Protocol for Emergency and Comprehensive Transformation (ASPECT) Framework. It bolsters regional coordination during emergencies.

At the Retreat that we just finished, we had a candid exchange of views on regional and international issues, particularly ASEAN’s capacity to manage and mitigate the impacts of oil supply disruptions and price volatility, as well as the lessons learned from the recent crisis.

Our discussions made clear that ASEAN should not just react to crises. We must anticipate, prepare, coordinate, and act together.

We must maximize existing ASEAN-led mechanisms, we must strengthen our institutions, we must deepen cooperation with our partners in accordance with the ASEAN Charter, the United Nations Charter, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and the principles of international law.

Today, we made important progress in bringing ASEAN Leaders together as the world confronts profound global uncertainty and economic volatility.

But of course the work is far from over.

So in the days ahead, we will continue with our incessant pursuit of improving the lives of ASEAN families and chart a future that is peaceful, prosperous, and people-centered.

The Philippines, as Chair, extends its appreciation to all ASEAN Member States for their trust, their support, and their very constructive participation.

We also thank the ASEAN Secretariat, our partners, and all those who have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings.

The full Chair’s Statement and outcome documents following the discussions during the Summit will be made available through the official channels of the ASEAN 2026 Philippines Chairship, Department of Foreign Affairs, and of ASEAN.

Thank you. Maraming salamat po.

Now I will open the floor to some questions.

Q&A:

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. I’m Huang Zhengzheng from China Central Television. My pleasure. My question is because of the ongoing energy crisis challenges as of now. So how do you see ASEAN and China can cooperate to strengthen the renewable energy area, especially like the waste-to-energy area?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that is certainly one of the main pillars of what we spoke about.

And that not only did we talk about the supply of fuel, the sharing the supply of fuel or having a mechanism by which we share it. Secondly, having a reservoir that will be shared as well by ASEAN.

On the first point, it is something that we already are doing because when the war started in the Middle East, immediately everyone was scrambling to try

and make sure that we have sufficient energy supply.

Of course, prices, we had very little – there was very

little that we could do. But we already were in very close coordination with our ASEAN partners, and we were looking, we were discussing together where, how, what can we do to help one another.

And it has been a very successful enterprise and I think that the reason, at least I can speak for the Philippines, that we have I would say a good supply of the different types of fuel. We have diesel, of kerosene, of jet fuel, of gasoline, all of these things we have a reasonable supply. It’s because of the assistance and the cooperation of our partners in ASEAN and, of course, in other countries as well.

But, of course, that is a short-term and immediate solution. The long-term solution is our continuing move away from fossil fuels, dependence on fossil fuels, and the development of alternative sources of renewable energy.

And we talked about hydro power, wind power, solar power, and even nuclear power was one of the solutions that’s been spoken about.

So ADB, to their credit, has been very supportive of that effort and they have actually earmarked some funds specifically for the development of renewable energy.

And it is something that certainly at least the Philippines and ASEAN and I’m sure the rest of the ASEAN nations will be availing of.

So yes, a very, very important part of our discussions.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. This is in relation to the ASEAN Maritime Centre. At the time when the South China Sea remains a fairly sensitive issue, how do you see this initiative further reinforcing ASEAN Centrality while at the same time promoting trust, dialogue, and constructive engagement with China?

THE PRESIDENT: I suppose as the situation in the South China Sea becomes more, shall we say, unreadable, this becomes more important that there will be a central repository for maritime issues and maritime policy that will apply to ASEAN members.

What we are looking for, or what is the ultimate reason for having this Maritime Centre is not to confront or not to somehow push back on any single force or any single country.

It has to be seen from this perspective. What we are working for is the continued freedom of navigation and the peaceful navigation in South China Sea.

As we all know, a large percentage of world trade goes through the South China Sea. And as has been demonstrated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz – the Strait of Hormuz is 20% of the entire oil supply of the world. And we are all very aware of the effects

of that.

But if such a thing would happen in the South China Sea, the inevitable consequences would be alarming, just to even think about.

And so that is the point of that Maritime Centre. And then of course there is the attendant issues of assistance of making sure that our waters are safe, that our territories are well respected, and that UNCLOS is the single most important guide and principle that we adhere to.

And that is the function as we see it that the

Maritime Centre will perform.

And I am very optimistic that it will in fact be established. And the discussions that we had progressed very, very quickly. There was a very wide consensus amongst members of the things that need to be done and how we need to do it.

Since we proposed the idea, we are offering the Philippines to be the home of that Centre.

Q: Good afternoon, sir. I have a series of questions about Myanmar. The Foreign Ministers are set to hold a virtual meeting with their Myanmar counterpart. Was it the leaders who gave this instruction to the Foreign Ministers? Do the leaders also agree that meeting the Myanmar Foreign Minister is an appropriate or a necessary step to take at this time? Could you explain the rationale behind it?

Additionally, is this virtual meeting with Myanmar a step toward the normalization of the status of Myanmar in ASEAN? And is it a recognition of the new government of Myanmar?

Last one, what are ASEAN’s thoughts on the results of the Myanmar general election and whether it will be – it will recognize the newly formed government? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it is – there is no need to further recognize Myanmar. The government of Myanmar has been recognized, and that’s why Myanmar is a Member State.

And however, because of the situation in Myanmar, where there is a humanitarian disaster that

is going on, there is continued fighting going on, there is impending – there is a low-level civil war still going on.

Then that is why ASEAN proposed the Five-Point Consensus. These essentially are that we have peace, that there is representation – the things that are necessary for a democratic state to function.

And this Five-Point Consensus was agreed upon by Myanmar. But unfortunately, we have not seen the actual implementation or despite the adoption of the Five-Point Consensus, we have not seen any progress in Myanmar.

And it’s interesting that you should ask that because I just came before coming here, we just had the Retreat, wherein the Leaders of the Member States sit down and have a closed-door session.

And one of the big subjects that was taken up was Myanmar. And I believe that many of the members aired their frustration about the lack of progress in the process of normalizing the situation in Myanmar and trying to find a way forward, trying to find some kind of agreement amongst the Member States.

We all agree that we would like to see more progress. We all agree that we all should try very hard to find ways to shift what has become a moribund process right now. It is not moving.

Certainly, although we will not abandon any of the main principles by which ASEAN operates, such as the respect for human rights, the rule of law, and in terms, in the specific case of Myanmar, on the Five- Point.

There was the beginnings in that discussion. It was a very, very vibrant discussion and at some points, emotional discussion. Because as I said during the Retreat – and I don’t think I’m betraying any confidence when I say this – that we have to do something because Myanmar is not merely a trade partner. Myanmar is not merely a friend to ASEAN. Myanmar is part of the ASEAN family and it is a tragedy when a family member is left out of the family for whatever reason.

And so there was, I think, a tacit agreement that we need to do more. We need to find what those things – we need to find other ways to move the process forward. What those other ways are is something that we now will have to go away and think about.

And we agreed that our Foreign Ministers, our Foreign Secretary would… First of all, that the leaderships, the leaders, would try to find any ideas.

Because as we were sitting there, we said you know we don’t have the answers here. These things will not be decided now. But we will go away and try and find – maybe think about what can be done to improve the process and to start to see some progress in that process of normalizing, once again, normalizing the situation in Myanmar.

So it’s still a thorny problem for which we cannot say that there are obvious solutions. But there has been a nano-shift, perhaps, in the approach to the situation in Myanmar.

There are no definitive answers as yet, but we are certainly going to work on it very, very hard.

Q: You basically pretty thoroughly answered my questions just now, Mr. President. It’s pretty clear there’s a divide, though. And I’m wondering what the main role the Philippines as Chair can play in bridging the divide, these different opinions about how best to eventually reintegrate Myanmar? I know Thailand is pushing hard for it. They’ve got border issues and other number of reasons to do so. Malaysia just yesterday said that Myanmar has not done nearly enough to earn high-level talks. So, yeah, I’m just wondering what you think, especially from the Myanmar perspective, what’s the baseline concession they need to be offering to get the ball rolling?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I suppose in a way we have asked our question, that question of ourselves, and that was, I think, the nub of the discussion that we had today.

And the question is not that… We certainly do not believe that we have not done enough. But the question was different. The question was, what more can we do?

And that’s how the discussion was directed. And what more can we do because it’s not moving forward. And ASEAN taken a position and I think it is a correct one. And we still hope that that position will be consistent to whatever agreements we come to with Myanmar.

And so it’s become very, very important that there is… I mean, there certainly is some frustration within the Member States that we have to find a – not necessarily a better way.

I’m not talking about some paradigm shift where we abandon our principles that we have lived by when it comes to this. We don’t abandon ASEAN Centrality. We do not abandon the respect for human rights. We do not abandon the humanitarian disaster, the concern for humanitarian disaster.

But it is certainly frustrating for the Member States that the process has not moved. Or if it has moved, it has moved very little. Certainly not as much as we had hoped it would have by this time.

So again, as my answer was to the previous question, we have all decided… Because ASEAN had a very clear position and which I’m sure you’re familiar with. And we have stayed with that position.

Now, maybe it’s time to – what we were talking about was not talking about changing our position or changing the things that we are aspiring to achieve, but perhaps seeing this methodology could be better or could be fine-tuned further.

And, you know, one of the arguments that was made is that the world has turned how many times since we started this discussion, since we started

having to deal with this situation. And perhaps the context has changed a little bit.

And maybe we should take that into account. That’s not necessarily the case, but this is the discussion that we had.

Q: Sir, regarding lang po ulit doon sa ASEAN Maritime Centre, what is our timeline for making this center fully operational and how soon can we expect it to start coordinating actual maritime security efforts?

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, the concept of it, the principle of it has been – is fully agreed on. We don’t know… I did not hear any arguments against it.

So now the job before us – before I can answer your question what the timeline is – the job before us is to put together the framework for what is this Maritime Centre going to look like, who will be involved and what their involvement will be, who will fund it, where will it be, what is it supposed to do in the first place. And all of those questions have yet to be answered.

But today, what we really confronted was the question, do we want to do this? Is this a good idea, do you think? And the unanimous answer was “yes.”

So, again, this is a new concept. And that’s why we still have to put the structure in place, the framework in place. We have to put the vision, mission in place.

Although that perhaps is something that we already have a fairly good idea about, but we have to get it written down in black and white.

And again, how the Maritime Centre is going to be structured so that we are able to do the things that we hope for it to do, which is maintain safety in the South China Sea, maintain the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, maintain order in the South China Sea, monitor the ships, which one is going where, where there’s illegal fishing, for example, where they’re using sea routes for smuggling, for human trafficking. All of those things put together.

So it is going to be a big job because the traffic, the vessel traffic in the South China Sea is immense. And how to regulate that, how to monitor that is something that we are going to have to decide what to do.

All the maritime countries around the South China Sea already do that, but they do that individually.

The idea of the Maritime Centre is to make a cohesive organization that will put together all the efforts of all the different countries, ASEAN and even other countries outside of ASEAN, who have an interest, who are stakeholders, put it together so that we are working together with one another, helping each other, and hopefully achieve some kind of – we are able to put together all our efforts so that there are no gaps in what we are trying to do, there is no duplication of work, and again, we maintain the peace in the South China Sea.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. This is on the point of energy security and mutual support among Member States. Did the Philippines get new supply commitments from our ASEAN neighbors?

THE PRESIDENT: Did we get new – ?

Q: Supply commitments? And if so, how firm and dependable are these commitments, given that our neighbors are facing the same crisis and they will naturally prioritize their own interests?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, actually, we did not talk about supply. Not here. You know why? Because we already have been discussing this for the past, what, few months, three months.

And the arrangements for supply, for fuel supply, have already been made with not only Member States, but the states outside of ASEAN.

And so this is not something that needed to be put together any longer because our supply lines were immediately established.

I mean, the war started in February 28. By the next day, this government, at least, was already in contact with all our suppliers. And beyond that, we were also looking for other suppliers, what we can refer to as non-traditional suppliers, all the way out to Africa, to Latin America, who before we did not really get a supply from.

So, no, it wasn’t discussed because we have already made – they are essentially bilateral arrangements.

The one thing that we talked about that concerned fuel supply was a fuel reserve. To put together a fuel reserve is something like the emergency rice reserve.

That came up too because we talked about food.

So to increase the emergency rice reserve that we share with one another when there is a crisis and enlarge that, but also the oil products, or different oil products, reserve.

Because the situation right now is very different from each country. Some countries have a surplus of a certain kind of fuel, other people have a shortage, and we’re trying to balance that out.

But beyond that is the reserve, so that we have something in reserve. And when something like this happens, a war happens, a trade route like the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and with all the attendant effects, we have somewhere to immediately run to for emergency supply.

That’s more what we discussed rather than arrangements to… It’s left to individual countries to make their own arrangements on how to gain supply because we are all in a different situation.

For example, in the Philippines, the number one important fuel is diesel. But other countries, what they are struggling with is jet fuel. With other countries, it’s gasoline. With other countries, it’s gas.

So we are trying to even out those differences between countries. So we are making our own arrangements, but at the same time we are coming together and promoting and developing, rather, developing the idea that we will have a fuel reserve, all the kinds of fuels, all the different kinds of fuel: crude oil, all the way to jet fuel, all the way to the most refined fuel and to have so that when such a thing happens again – hopefully it will never happen again but you never know – and should such a thing happen again, then there is a reserve that we can all avail of. Thank you.

Q: Sir, you mentioned that there is a need to expedite certain frameworks for energy security. Do we have a timeline, sir, for the APSA and the ASEAN Grid?

THE PRESIDENT: All of these are new ideas and some of them actually still have to be ratified by the individual countries. And so everyone has a different schedule.

But the understanding of everybody is that it is all ASAP. Everything is as soon as possible. And I think, again, this is one of the issues that nobody disagreed on.

We needed it last month. Forget about next month, six months, a year from now. We needed it yesterday, if not sooner, sort of thing. So that’s the way we are approaching the problem.

Q: Mr. President, I understand that, but isn’t it rather frustrating, or were there leaders during the Summit that expressed frustration that these mechanisms do exist, but we cannot activate them at the moment when the region needs it most? Is there any way that you could trigger these mechanisms much faster so that we could meet the goals set by the Summit?

THE PRESIDENT: Look, we’re open to suggestion. If you have a suggestion to make it faster, please tell us. Because we are trying to examine everything we can do to make it, as I said, immediate.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. Just to clarify, everyone agrees that there is an urgent need to address the fuel supply problems given the Middle East crisis. But the leaders have not yet agreed as to how to operationalize.

THE PRESIDENT: No, we have agreed… Oh, well, the mechanics of it, the idea, the principle of it was immediately unanimously agreed upon. But it’s how do we do it?

Let’s talk about the fuel reserve. Is it going to be in one single place? Is it going to be scattered to the whole of ASEAN? Just like the Maritime Centre, where are we going to put it? What is it supposed to do?

The reserve, for example, how do we share this? Even when we were talking about… We also talked about the ASEAN Common Grid, which is an idea that we have been developing for several years now, and that is to connect up power grids.

I just had a meeting with Lao PDR and they are already producing electricity that they export to their neighbors. And this is the idea but how is that sharing? Who gets what? How do you pay for it? Do you pay for it? Is it an exchange? Do you do credit? We haven’t done it before, except at a fairly small level, low level.

So we have to put together an algorithm, if you want, that will decide. The ones who are most in need, how will they get it? What do we do about the others who are also in need? Who comes first? Those are the questions that still need to be decided.

But again, I’m very optimistic because these are very, you know, we’re talking about very smart people. And they have, and more importantly than that, they are committed to making this succeed because everyone is suffering and everyone wants to get out of the situation.

So that’s why I’m very optimistic that we will not be wasting time with bureaucratic nonsense. We will not be arguing politics because this that or the other thing. We will be really working very hard to getting it done as quickly as possible in the best possible way.

Q: So how soon? I think because based on your answer, the mechanics are in place but you cannot agree on the details on how to operationalize the fuel sharing agreement. So are the leaders not concerned that by the time you come to a consensus, the fuel supply has come much worse for the region?

THE PRESIDENT: Our Energy Ministers haven’t yet met. So it’s impossible to say… They haven’t laid out – they haven’t met. Therefore, there is no… They haven’t laid out the timetable.

But rest assured the minute we have it, we will inform you.

Q: Good afternoon, Mr. President. As you mentioned today, in an increasingly interconnected world the instability can quickly affect the supply chains and the financial market and people’s daily life. So how important do you think the economic cooperation between China and ASEAN in maintaining the regional growth and the supply chain’s resilience? And which areas do you think hold the most potential in the future cooperation? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Well the basic, fundamental foundation of any of those – to get the answer to any of those questions will come from the finalization of a COC, a code of conduct.

We cannot institutionalize any of those things until the code of conduct is finalized. The code of conduct between ASEAN and the People’s Republic.

So, again, that is one of our aspirations as Chair of ASEAN for 2026, that we find at the end of the year, that we actually have a code of conduct.

Now how optimistic or pessimistic I am? I don’t want to say. It’s a very difficult question.

You know, well, for one thing, the ASEAN Member States are all different, have a different approach when it comes to the People’s Republic, when it comes to Beijing.

So, we have to incorporate all of that into one single document, which is the code of conduct. So once we have that, then all those questions will be answered.

Q: Good evening, Mr. President. Earlier you mentioned that there was a nano-shift

scene in Myanmar. Can I get you to elaborate on that? And also, what is Myanmar’s response to ASEAN’s request to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? And would eventual access to her shape the overall decisions ASEAN has on Myanmar? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that is one of the main aspects of it… The status and the treatment of The Lady, as she has come to be called.

But in Myanmar… I wouldn’t even go so far as to call it “a shift.” I think it is more a recognition that we have to find other ways or something to move the thing forward.

And we were talking about it, you know, in negotiations, sometimes when you change, you move the parameters one millimeter, it makes all the difference.

So we’re still trying to — asking all the Member States, all the leaders and their ministries, what that millimeter shift could possibly be.

And I think everyone is very enthusiastic to come up with their own ideas. And that is what we ended with. We said, let’s share our ideas and let our Foreign Ministers talk about it. And then we will see what of those ideas are actually actionable, are actually going to be effective, and we will try them.

And that was the conclusion that we came to during this last Retreat.

Q: Sorry, Mr. President, sorry. Just a follow-up. What about Myanmar’s response to ASEAN’s request to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m sorry, what?

Q: What is Myanmar’s response to ASEAN’s request for the envoy to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?

THE PRESIDENT: We didn’t move on that. That is one of the main aspects of our negotiation, if you want to call it, with the government of Myanmar, that she’d be freed and that she’d be allowed to exercise her rights, and that if she is recognized as a leader, that she’d be able to function as a leader.

That certainly… That hasn’t changed one iota.

Q: Thanks, Mr. President. What is ASEAN calling for from the parties in the Middle East, in the conflict in the Middle East?

THE PRESIDENT: What is our – ?

Q: What is ASEAN calling for – ?

THE PRESIDENT: Peace. Peace. That is – it’s that simple. Peace.

And we have made that position very clear. We have the Foreign Ministers, when they met previous to this Summit, already put out that document calling for all parties to cease hostilities and to take a step back, open the Strait of Hormuz, and find a way for a lasting peace. And this is between US, Israel, and Iran.

So that is something that is, I think, fundamental to any discussion about the war in the Middle East. That’s the first step, because we will achieve absolutely nothing until there is peace.

We now are in this limbo situation where we don’t know how long it’s going to last. We don’t know when the next encounter is going to be. Is the ceasefire on? Is it not on? Is Israel included? Is Hezbollah included?

It’s a very difficult situation. So again, until the fighting ends, until the bombings end, then it’s very difficult to put together any kind of solution, if you want to call it that.

That is why the call essentially is peace now.

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