President Marcos: ‘Very bare-bones’ Asean summit to push through

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March 28, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will push through with its hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, President Marcos said yesterday, amid calls from some quarters to postpone it to free up public funds to support vulnerable sectors heavily impacted by the skyrocketing fuel prices sparked by the Middle East conflict.

But President Marcos assured the public that the summit slated in May and November would be scaled down to the “very bare bones,” with discussions centering on urgent issues: energy and food security and migrant workers.

In an interview in Silang, Cavite, Marcos said he consulted his counterparts from other ASEAN member states on whether or not they should proceed with the meetings.

“And the question that we – that I asked them is very simple. Would you like – would you prefer, because everybody is busy with the oil crisis that’s going on because of the war in the Middle East, would you like to postpone the ASEAN Summit? The consensus that we came to is that, it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts,” Marcos told reporters.

“So, that is what we are going to do. We will push through with the ASEAN Summit, but the way that we described it is that we have – it is a bare bones ASEAN Summit,” the Chief Executive said.

Agenda: Oil, food, migrant workers

Marcos said ASEAN leaders would shorten their meeting to a day and a half, focusing on three key issues: oil, food and migrant workers.

“What is really needed at this time is for us leaders to talk so we can find out what do we do in the future? What do we do for the rest of the year? What do we do? How can we help each other? And what is the ASEAN position regarding all of these shocks that are coming our way?” Marcos said.

Some lawmakers urged the government to reduce the budget for the ASEAN hosting from P12 billion to P10 billion and use the savings to increase subsidies for vulnerable sectors severely affected by the crisis.

“We have done that. It’s done,” Marcos said, without elaborating.

Asked whether the government is considering hosting just one summit instead of two to save funds, Marcos said there were no discussions yet for the November event, even as he stressed the significance of the 49th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit.

The 48th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit will take place on May 8 to 9 in Cebu, bringing together leaders from the 11 ASEAN member-states.

The 49th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit, meanwhile, is scheduled from Nov. 10 to 12 in Manila, at the newly renovated Philippine International Convention Center that will also be attended by leaders from ASEAN’s dialogue partners.

Hosting scaled down

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the President has ordered a recalibration of the country’s hosting of ASEAN, scaling down non-essential bloc activities to save on expenses and focus on the most important.

Recto, as ASEAN National Organizing Committee chair, issued on Friday a memorandum to Philippine host agencies to inform all their counterparts that all preparatory meetings – from working group, senior officials to ministerial – will now be held virtually.

In the same memorandum, Recto directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to “hold diplomatic briefings to incorporate appropriate messaging and other changes with the substantive deliverables.”

“As host, we remain committed to our goal of ASEAN, not merely as a platform for dialogue, but as a force for coordinated action and dynamic leadership in a time of crisis,” the executive secretary said.

The 2026 hosting will mark the country’s fourth time to host the ASEAN Summit.