Marcos off to second Indonesia trip for 42nd ASEAN Summit

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. departed for Indonesia for the second time during his presidency for the 42nd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Indonesia was the chief executive’s first overseas travel since assuming the post in July last year when he took a state visit upon the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. It is now his 12th trip abroad, flying in from the United States and the United Kingdom just last week.

“My participation will serve to promote and protect the interest of our country, including our continued efforts towards economic growth, attaining food and energy security, promoting trade and investment, combatting transnational crime, such as the trafficking in persons, and protecting migrant workers in crisis situations, amongst others,” Marcos said in his predeparture speech on Tuesday.

Marcos will be in Indonesia until Thursday, May 11. The theme of this year’s summit is “ASEAN Matters: Epicenter of Growth” and is hosted by ASEAN Chair and Indonesian President Widodo.

The Philippines will be participating in the 15th East ASEAN Growth Area meeting, which is an initiative created by the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to guide the countries’ shift from to industries with clean and green technologies from resource extraction.

Marcos said he will also be in meetings with the ASEAN Interparliamentary Assembly, the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, ASEAN Youth, and the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community Post-2025 Vision.

Myanmar at the center

Southeast Asian nations are at a "crossroad", a senior Indonesian minister warned Tuesday, as escalating violence in junta-controlled Myanmar loomed over a regional summit.

“The leaders of ASEAN will also exchange views on pressing issues of common concerns such as developments in the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar, and major power rivalries among others,” Marcos said.

Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government more than two years ago and unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent.
ASEAN – long-decried by critics as a toothless talking shop – has led diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis.

But those efforts have been fruitless, as the junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents, which include ousted lawmakers, anti-coup "People's Defence Forces" and armed ethnic minority groups.

Timor Leste will be joining this year’s summit as an observer. Its membership with the regional bloc is still pending. — with a report from Agence France-Presse / Martin Abbugao and Allison Jackson