Marcos: ASEAN to keep 'constructive' engagement with Myanmar

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addresses ASEAN leaders before the start of their retreat at Coconut Palace, Pasay City, Nov. 15, 2026.

Screengrab via ASEAN Philippines 2026

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday, November 15, urged leaders of the region to review "what more" ASEAN can do for Myanmar five years after it adopted a peace plan that has yet to end the country's civil war. 

Opening the closed-door ASEAN retreat at the newly restored Coconut Palace in Pasay City, Marcos urged leaders to keep in mind the crisis in Myanmar is about the people, "families who have been displaced, communities that need humanitarian assistance, and young people whose future has been interrupted by conflict and instability." 

"Towards this end, we agreed to continue constructive and principled engagement with Myanmar while staying true to the principles of the five-point consensus," Marcos said.

Myanmar is "part of the ASEAN family" and is not "merely an issue" on the bloc's agenda, Marcos said before the 10 leaders of ASEAN member-countries. Myanmar was represented by the director-general for ASEAN affairs of its foreign ministry.

The president said he hoped the session would produce "practical and forward-looking discussions" on carrying out the bloc's five-point consensus and supporting a "Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led" peace process.

Marcos also urged leaders to share their views on "regional and international developments, particularly on energy security and resilience."

The retreat, held on the opening day of the 49th ASEAN Summit, is an informal session held during the annual meeting where leaders can speak without the prepared statements of plenary sessions.  

ASEAN leaders agreed on the five-point consensus in April 2021, weeks after Myanmar's military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government. The plan calls for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, humanitarian aid, and an envoy visit to meet all sides.  

The bloc has barred Myanmar's top leaders from its summits since 2021 over the lack of progress in resolving its civil war. 

That ban covers Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader who was sworn in as president by a pro-military parliament in April after elections that Myanmar's opposition calls a sham. 

Foreign ministers meeting in Manila in July tasked the bloc with drawing up benchmarks to measure "demonstrable progress" in Myanmar and began discussing a long-term special envoy in place of the post that currently rotates each year with the chairmanship.  

Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro, concurrently ASEAN's special envoy to Myanmar this year, said over the weekend there'd be no let-up in its attempts to enforce the five-point consensus.

International rights watchdog Human Rights Watch earlier urged the Philippine government, as ASEAN chair, to ramp up the bloc's response to the rights and humanitarian crises in Myanmar, and to continue barring its junta leaders from representing the country at the ASEAN summit.