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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
January 7, 2026 | 11:00am
Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro and Myanmar's military ruler Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
Released
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has inherited one of ASEAN's biggest headaches: coaxing Myanmar's defiant military junta to honor the bloc's long-stalled peace plan. That task officially fell to Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro this week as she met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing amid elections derided internationally as a sham.
The Philippines' top diplomat, fulfilling her secondary role as Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair to Myanmar, met Myanmar's military ruler Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday, January 6, to discuss the country's "political situation" and controversial elections, as well as the stalled regional peace plan.
This is Lazaro's first official visit as ASEAN chair to the epicenter of the region's longest unresolved crisis, with the bloc still pushing a peace agenda that has so far failed to stop violence or produce a credible transition.
The officials had what the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said was a "warm and constructive exchange of views on geopolitical developments, the political situation in Myanmar particularly the ongoing elections," as well as ASEAN priorities and the five-point consensus peace framework.
Myanmar's state-run news agency said the two sides "exchanged views on the conditions under which elections are being held in Myanmar to ensure that all citizens retain their democratic rights," and discussed economic cooperation and how Myanmar can enhance cooperation within ASEAN.
The visit marks the Philippines' first moves to tackle the Myanmar crisis as chair of ASEAN, a role that puts Manila at the forefront of efforts to implement a largely ineffective peace framework originally agreed upon in 2021. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Lazaro as ASEAN's special envoy on Myanmar ahead of the trip.
Her meetings came as early results from Myanmar's first election in five years showed the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development party winning most seats in the lower house. The United Nations and human rights groups have condemned the vote as a sham, with pro-democracy parties barred from participation and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi still detained after the junta dissolved her party.
"As Chair of ASEAN, the Philippines will continue to build on the efforts of previous Special Envoys of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar in advancing the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus," Lazaro said as quoted in the DFA statement.
The five-point consensus is the ASEAN peace plan agreed in April 2021 which calls for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, constructive dialogue between the junta and all other parties, the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate mediation, humanitarian assistance through ASEAN, and allowing the special envoy to visit Myanmar to meet with all parties.
The plan has made little progress since its adoption, with the junta consistently defying its commitments without concrete repercussions from the bloc. Meanwhile, the junta-led government has continued to carry out a brutal crackdown that has since sparked a nationwide armed rebellion.
Under ASEAN's rotating chairmanship, each new chair appoints its own special envoy to mediate between Myanmar's warring factions, though there are discussions about appointing a permanent envoy for continuity.
Two more rounds of voting in Myanmar are scheduled this January.
