Marcos: Asean meet to push through in May

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand  Marcos Jr. on Friday said the Philippines' hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Leaders' Summit in May would push through despite the ongoing war in the Middle East. In a media interview in Silang, Cavite, Marcos said that Southeast Asian leaders would focus discussions on oil supply, food security, and the welfare of migrants workers. "We have consulted with our counterparts in the 10 other member states. The question that I asked them is very simple, because of the war in the Middle East, would you like to postpone the Asean Summit? The consensus that we came to is that it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts," Marcos said. The President described the summit as "bare-bones," focusing only on urgent and essential issues. "What we really need at this time is for us, leaders to talk to know what do we do in the future, what do we do for the rest of the year, what do we do, how can we help each other, and what is the Asean position regarding all of these shocks that are coming our way," he added.

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