Good morning.
I have just attended the 46th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Summit was once again an opportunity to discuss among our fellow ASEAN Member States and partners how we should navigate our futures together. This amidst the various geopolitical and economic challenges that we face nationally, bilaterally, regionally, and globally.
We discussed significant international issues and emerging challenges that not only impact our nation, but also the entire region, especially the West Philippine Sea.
I reaffirmed that the Philippines will continue to defend our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, in accordance with international law.
We continue to strengthen our partnerships with all countries who share our values and our commitment to peace and the rule of law.
The Leaders of ASEAN agreed to work as a whole towards the further advancement of ASEAN Community-building.
We adopted the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, which sets out the future direction of ASEAN over the next 20 years, along with its accompanying Strategic Plans.
We are collaborating with our partners to narrow development gaps and to promote inclusive growth, particularly for the marginalized, the underdeveloped, and vulnerable communities. We acknowledged the Complementarities Initiative, which maps the similar goals of the ASEAN Community Vision and the Sustainable Development Goals.
We reaffirmed the importance of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and this is the code of conduct which governs the inter-state relations in the region.
To prepare our country and our region for the future, the economic front must also be developed. ASEAN continued to demonstrate resilience with a growth of 4.7% in 2024, higher than the global average.
The Leaders and I talked about the impact of the imposition of unilateral tariff measures, which pose a threat to a region as economically integrated as ours.
We welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN Geoeconomics Task Force, which is an ad-hoc, specialized, high-level advisory body which provides real-time analysis, strategic foresight, and actionable policy recommendations to support relevant ASEAN Sectoral Bodies.
We reaffirmed the ASEAN’s collective commitment to a rules-based, open, inclusive, transparent, and non-discriminatory multilateral system.
We strengthened our trade with external partners with upgrades in the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), amendments in our Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and utilization of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
We welcomed the issuance of the Joint Declaration on Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). We look forward to its effective implementation.
We welcomed the progress in trade and customs, sustainable investment guidelines, mobilization of green financing, multilateral power trade, support to micro, small, and medium enterprises, and sustainable tourism, mining, and agriculture, among others.
In line with the Philippines’ commitment to the development of a common regional framework for ethical and responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) aligned with ASEAN values, we noted the ongoing development of the Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Safety Network. This is a crucial step to institutionalize AI safety, ethics, and governance principles.
This economic development goes hand in hand with strengthening the Socio-Cultural Community. We discussed the progress achieved and actions moving forward for education, green jobs, migrant worker rights, civil service, and health.
We adopted the ASEAN Creative Economy Sustainability Framework, which is a roadmap for balancing economic growth, social inclusion, cultural preservation, and environmental sustainability.
Once again, the ASEAN Leaders and I had a fruitful interface with the representatives of ASEAN Youth, where I highlighted the Philippines’ hosting of the 14th Senior Officials Meeting on Youth and the ASEAN Youth Climate Action and Disaster Resilience Conference in Manila that was recently as part of the government’s commitment to the young people of ASEAN.
I also encouraged the Youth Representatives to harness the full potential of technology for the region’s development while keeping an eye to the challenges that this new frontier brings, particularly on the misuse of information and Artificial Intelligence.
On the sidelines of the Summit, I took the opportunity to engage leaders to discuss bilateral cooperation and strategic areas of mutual interest.
I met with the leaders of Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Kuwait. We reaffirmed commitment to strengthen bilateral relations and further advance cooperation on many fields of mutual interests such as defense, maritime, trade, human resource and development, and education. I especially wish to note that we agreed to explore active ways to boost private sector investment. We expressed openness to cooperating on advanced technologies, AI, and the digital space.
I emphasized that welfare, safety, and progress of Filipinos working and living overseas is of paramount importance to my administration.
In all my bilateral engagements, one thing is clear: we have to continue to cooperate and to work together to navigate a future that presents us with many opportunities together with many challenges.
The Philippine delegation and I are grateful to Malaysia, the Chair of ASEAN this year, and our generous host, for the successful 46th ASEAN Summit.
As the 2026 Chair of ASEAN, the Philippines looks forward to building on the gains of Malaysia’s Chairship and carry ASEAN forward as we “navigate our future together.”
Maraming salamat at magandang umaga po.
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