ASEAN meet to tackle energy, food, safety

The ASEAN Summit in May is set to zero in on some of Southeast Asia’s most urgent concerns—energy security, food stability and the protection of its citizens overseas—as geopolitical tensions ripple across global supply chains.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said the Philippines is prepared to host the 48th summit and related meetings in Cebu on May 8, bringing together leaders and senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Our focus will be on the most pressing imperatives of our time—fortifying energy security, stabilizing food supplies and, above all, guaranteeing the absolute safety and welfare of ASEAN nationals, no matter where they are in the world,” she said during a forum organized by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia.

The agenda reflects mounting concerns over disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly its impact on oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for more than a quarter of the world’s crude supply.

Lazaro said the summit underscores ASEAN’s growing cohesion in addressing shared challenges. “This, for me, is a testimony that, a manifestation that ASEAN is really gearing up, being very cohesive in addressing many issues, and probably other issues in the future,” she noted.

The Cebu gathering will be the first of two ASEAN summits the Philippines will host this year, with the 49th scheduled in November in Pasay City.

Ahead of the summit, Lazaro said Manila continues to play a bridging role in addressing the crisis in Myanmar under the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus.

She cited recent developments, including statements about releasing political prisoners and potentially easing restrictions on detained leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Now, there are certain pronouncements that they’re making—releasing of political prisoners, hopefully putting Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest and release of the former president,” she said.

“These are indication on their part… that they have not really complied with the Five-Point Consensus,” she added, stressing that full compliance remains the benchmark for normalizing relations.

“We still believe that until they have complied with what is stipulated in the Five-Point Consensus, then the relations will still be the same situation as before,” she said.

Lazaro also pointed to renewed momentum in negotiations between ASEAN and China toward a binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, with both sides aiming to conclude discussions within 2026.

“I always say that I’m an optimist but also a pragmatist… to endeavor to finish the COC by the end of this year,” she said.

“And I can tell you right now that there is that possibility, because what is happening now, every month the group meets, the negotiators meet,” she added, noting that talks have been held regularly since the foreign ministers’ retreat in Cebu earlier this year.