Philippines hosts signing of first extradition treaty for Southeast Asia

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

November 14, 2025 | 12:41pm

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian nations signed their first region-wide extradition treaty on Friday, November 14, closing a decades-old legal gap that allowed criminals in the region to escape arrest by fleeing to neighboring countries.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed the signing of the treaty at the opening of the two-day 13th ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting, an event held in the Philippines as part of the country's chairmanship of the ASEAN in 2026.

The signing of the ASEAN extradition treaty, Marcos said, was proof that the regional bloc was united in ensuring criminals could no longer treat the region's borders as escape routes.

"The AET reflects our collective resolve—that individuals with criminal charges will not escape justice by crossing borders in ASEAN," Marcos said at the signing ceremony in Taguig. 

The treaty standardizes extradition procedures across Southeast Asia, covering everything from the arrest of suspects to how countries settle disputes over requests.

What took so long?

ASEAN members endorsed the idea of a binding extradition treaty in 2018.

Working groups spent years ironing out the details, building on a model treaty adopted in October 2018.  

Until now, ASEAN countries have relied on a patchwork of bilateral agreements. The Philippines, for instance, only has an extradition agreement with two Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia and Thailand.

How will it work?

The treaty will allow a member state to request the surrender of a fugitive found in another ASEAN country. The person must be wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence already handed down.

In the Philippines, the Department of Justice will handle all extradition requests through its Office of the Chief State Counsel.

The agreement will take effect 30 days after at least six countries complete their domestic approval processes and inform the ASEAN Secretariat. 

This means the process may still take years. 

Region exploited by crime groups

Speaking before other ASEAN ministers, Marcos said the treaty "(sends) a clear message to the world that we are united and that our legal foundation is stronger than ever."

The push for a binding treaty comes as Southeast Asia continues to house transnational criminal syndicates that have escaped the watch of law enforcers. 

Several Filipinos have fallen victim to the so-called scam compounds working across Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

These trafficking hubs have expanded at unprecedented speed, according to UN agencies and regional policy groups. Tens of thousands of people have been trafficked into forced online scam operations, and losses tied to cross-border fraud have been estimated at tens of billions of dollars annually.

Police agencies across ASEAN have struggled to pursue syndicate leaders who generally move operations between jurisdictions.

On Friday, Marcos did not cite specific cases, but warned that corruption, impunity, and weak enforcement “erode the moral bases of our societies,” and said ASEAN must move faster to confront cybercrime and the legal implications of artificial intelligence.