Philippines to continue with ASEAN Myanmar policy as regime attends legal meetings in Manila

The incoming ASEAN chair, the Philippines, will continue with Malaysia’s strategy on the Myanmar crisis, as the regional bloc remains undecided on sending observers to the regime’s 2025-26 elections.

The Philippines will maintain the current approach to the Myanmar crisis when it assumes the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Jan. 1, 2026, according to its Department of Foreign Affairs.

“Malaysia had about 117 engagements, and we are of the view that we cannot do everything that was done by Malaysia, or even the past chairs, starting from that,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told media in Manila on Nov. 17. “It is the Philippine position, that we can just be working on what has been established, and to continue.”

Lazaro added that a decision on whether ASEAN will officially send observers to the Myanmar regime’s 2025-26 elections, set to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026, is still under discussion. Any deployment of election observers would need a consensus decision from all ASEAN members.