ASEAN shifts meetings online amid war-induced PH energy emergency

2026-03-27 - 11:51

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines announced Friday, March 27, that preparatory meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will shift online, days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency. This means moving forward, all meetings under ASEAN — save for a summit in May 2026 and another in November 2026 — will all be held online. In a release, Acting Executive Secretary and ASEAN National Organizing Committee Chair Ralph Recto said it was “a shift which will still ensure substantial discussions and productive results.” Recto issued a memorandum to all Philippine host agencies to inform their counterparts that all meetings — from the working group, senior officials, to ministerial — will be held online. These meetings are held throughout the year, leading up to two summits: the May 2026 Summit in Cebu for leaders of the bloc, and the November 2026 Summit in Manila with leaders of the bloc and its dialogue partners. Marcos had earlier announced that while the May 2026 Summit in Cebu was pushing through, it would be scaled down to the bare bones and focus solely on issues related to the global crisis caused by hostilities in the Middle East: regional energy security, food security, and migrant workers. The Philippines is the chair of the regional bloc for 2026. Chairing ASEAN typically means organizing and physically hosting most of its meetings — from the leaders down to the working groups — in the country. “A stripped-down ASEAN activities will still be able to achieve its goal of strengthening regional unity and forging a common response to mounting global challenges.... The pomp and the pageantry will have to give way to problem-solving. But we believe that ceremonies will still honor tradition as it celebrates unity,” added Recto. The region’s energy security is among those most affected by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, since it sources most of its energy from the Middle East. Several ASEAN nations have a substantial population of migrant workers in the Gulf, including the Philippines. Some P17.495 billion has been allocated in 2026 under the national budget to host ASEAN. Lawmakers had earlier urged Marcos to use part of this funding to address the effects of the war on the sharp rise in global oil prices and its subsequent effect on food prices. Manila is scheduled to host the 49th ASEAN Summit in November, which would bring together both leaders of the bloc and dialogue partners such as Japan, the United States, Australia, China, and India, among others. It’s during that second summit of the year that ASEAN hosts the East Asia Summit, considered the largest leaders-level forum in the region. Online meetings under ASEAN are not new, even at the leaders’ level. Summits were held online during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was severely restricted. Vietnam and Brunei, as chairs in 2020 and 2021, respectively, held virtual meetings and summits during the pandemic. It was during those years that the bloc, through online meetings, tackled issues such as the pandemic and the situation in junta-ruled Myanmar. Manila has large tasks and aspirations to fulfill as ASEAN chair, made harder by global economic challenges brought about by the war. The Philippines wants to conclude a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea with China by 2026, following a timeline set by ASEAN ministers back in 2023. – Rappler.com