Jamaine Punzalan

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (C) poses with (from L to R) Laos’ Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, European Council President Antonio Costa, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Philippines’ President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet, and Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hau Khan Sum during the opening ceremony of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Mark Balmores, PPA Pool

Article (news)

MARCOS

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177458306435220251026-marcos-47th-asean-mtg-MB-4.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (C) poses with (from L to R) Laos’ Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, European Council President Antonio Costa, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Philippines’ President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet, and Myanmar’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hau Khan Sum during the opening ceremony of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Mark Balmores, PPA Pool</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday that the 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in May would push through under a “very bare-boned” setup as part of the government’s cost-cutting measures to cope with the national energy emergency brought about by the Middle East conflict.</p><p>The Philippines is hosting the ASEAN summit this year where over 200 clustered meetings have been lined up and high-level consultative meetings had already been conducted as early as January.</p><p>Marcos said he consulted his counterparts from ten other ASEAN member-states if they wanted to postpone the high-level gathering as the Middle East war dragged on.</p><p>“The consensus that we came to is that it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts. That’s what we are going to do,” Marcos said in a chance interview.</p><p> “Pagpapatuloy natin ang ASEAN Summit ngunit ito ay — the way we described it is that, it is a bare-bones ASEAN summit,” he added.</p><p> The chief executive said the summit would focus on three main subjects, namely, fuel supply food prices and supply, and migrant workers.</p><p> “It will be over a period of maybe a day and a half imbes na ‘yung mahaba. Lahat ng plinano natin, sabi ko baka hindi naman ngayon ang panahon para masyadong elaborate ang ating preparation,” Marcos noted.</p><p> Meanwhile, the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in November — where other world leaders outside the regional bloc are expected to attend — will also push through “tentatively”, Marcos said, as he underscored the importance of the meeting.</p><p> “But before we do that, siguro by September, October, magtatanong na tayo kung ano ang gustong gawin ‘yung ibang leader, kung makarating man sila, etcetera. Pero right now, we&#x27;re focused on the summit in May,” he said.</p><p> When asked about the proposal of Batangas First District Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste to slash the ASEAN spending to P10 billion to save funds that could be used for “relief measures”, Marcos responded: “Ginawa na nga. Tapos na eh.”</p><p> “That&#x27;s why we did this. That&#x27;s exactly why we did this. One of the big reasons why we did this,” he said.</p><div> </div><div> <strong>&#x27;RECALIBRATION&#x27;</strong></div><div> </div><p>Following Marcos Jr.’s directive, government agencies are now scaling down non-essential bloc activities “in order to save on expenses and focus on the most important,” according to Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.</p><p>In a memorandum circular issued Thursday, March 26, the vice chairperson and committee chairpersons of the ASEAN 2026 National Organizing Committee were directed to inform counterparts that all preparatory meetings leading to the summits will be conducted online.</p><p> The Department of Foreign Affairs is also instructed to conduct a diplomatic briefing and “incorporate the appropriate messaging and changes for the expected outcome documents or deliverables, and to guide host agencies in ASEAN sectoral bodies on adjustments to be made or conveyed”.</p><p> Recto assured that the ‘stripped-down’ activities will still be able to achieve ASEAN’s goal of “strengthening regional unity and forging a common response to mounting global challenges”.</p><p> “Hindi ito panahon para sa engrandeng seremonya. Panahon ito ng mabilis na aksyon, pagtutulungan, at konkretong solusyon,” Recto said.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j1zz9qqHQ8E?&amp;t=2s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BqkLROXWjGU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"/></div>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits would continue in May, but would be “very bare-boned” to reduce costs.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits would continue in May, but would be “very bare-boned” to reduce costs.

Marcos: ‘Bare-boned’ ASEAN Summit in May to focus on oil, food, migrant workers

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Marcos: ‘Bare-boned’ ASEAN Summit in May to focus on oil, food, migrant workers

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 27, 2026 11:45 AM PHT

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Updated March 27, 2026 06:00 PM PHT

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ASEAN Summit

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