October 10, 2024 | 11:13am
MANILA, Philippines — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations needs “new strategies” to de-escalate violence in Myanmar as its three-year-old peace agreement with the junta chief has seen limited success, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, October 9.
Leaders at the ASEAN summit in Laos, including Marcos, have placed peace efforts for Myanmar at the top of the agenda as the country remains locked in a deadly conflict between military and pro-democracy forces.
On Wednesday, the ASEAN delegates met for the first time with a top Myanmar foreign ministry official since the 2021 coup for talks aimed at brokering an end to the years-long civil war there.
At the sidelines of the meetings this week, Marcos told reporters that the Philippines’ position on Myanmar remains the same. “We are firmly behind the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and we are trying to find ways to move forward,” he said in an interview with the media.
The five-point consensus refers to the peace agreement that the Myanmar junta signed weeks after ousting the country’s democratically elected government in 2021.
The ASEAN-led document calls for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, dialogue among all parties involved, and the provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, among others.
The plan is largely unenforced as the junta has continued its brutal attacks on civilians and massive aerial bombing campaigns, killing thousands and displacing millions.
“Because we have to admit that although the Five-Point (Consensus) has been out there since 2021, we have not been very successful in actually changing the situation,” Marcos said.
“So, we are trying to formulate new strategies.”
After the 2021 coup, the ASEAN barred the junta from attending its summits due to its failure to comply with the peace plan. The military has, however, given in this week and sent a “non-political” delegate to the high-level talks.
Under former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines in 2021 distanced itself from a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for the freedom of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials.
At the time, the foreign affairs department said it was against any move to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation and opposed the “imposition of foreign solutions.”
Months later, however, the Philippines voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution seeking an end to the coup and the release of Suu Kyi.
In 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he and Marcos discussed ways to engage the Myanmar military regime informally “without sacrificing the issue on human rights.” Marcos, who was in Kuala Lumpur for a three-day visit, did not comment on the matter.
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