Good afternoon.

The Speaker of the House, Speaker Martin Romualdez; the members of the Cabinet that are here with us, both of those who are part of the delegation and those who are going to hold down the fort while we are away; and of course, Madame First Lady; District Representative Antonino Calixto; Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, good afternoon; the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Bacarro; the Philippine National Police Chief General Rodolfo Azurin; my fellow workers in government; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

I will depart today for Phnom Penh, Cambodia upon  the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to  attend the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related  Summits from the 10th to the 13th of November.

It is my first time to attend the ASEAN Summit as a leader, the  highest policy-making body of ASEAN. In the next few  days, the Leaders of ASEAN Member States will discuss  and provide policy decisions on current political,  security, economic, and socio-cultural developments, as well as global issues that are affecting Southeast Asia and this region and beyond.

We will also hold Summits with ASEAN’s Dialogue  Partners, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan,  India, the Republic of Korea, and the United States, to  review existing and new areas of cooperation and  exchange views on regional and international issues.

ASEAN has always been a cornerstone of  Philippine foreign policy, and through these Summits, I  will convey the Philippines’ continuing support for ASEAN  Centrality, for Cambodia as the current Chair of  ASEAN, and for Indonesia as the incoming Chair of  ASEAN next year. 

My participation will promote and protect Philippine  interests in ASEAN. We will emphasize regional  cooperation on maritime security, climate change,  food security, health cooperation and economic recovery amongst others. We will also address regional  issues such as the pandemic and the situation in  Myanmar, developments in the South China Sea, and  the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine,  among other important matters.  

And we will also be having bilateral meetings with some of my  counterparts in ASEAN and ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners.  I will seek further cooperation in key priorities of my  Administration as well as how to explore what we can do to come together to address the most pressing issues of the region. 

I look forward as well to meeting the Filipino community in Cambodia. The ASEAN way, such as the mutual recognition of our contributions to each other’s  nation-building efforts, is very much alive in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

I have spoken often about the importance that I put to the partnerships that we make as we go forward and start to live the future of the new global economy.

And I think this is going to be a very, very good opportunity for us to forge new partnerships and to strengthen those that have already existed for a very long time.

And it is also an important — it is an important ASEAN Conference specifically because this is the first time ASEAN has been able to meet after about three years. And that adds to the importance because very much has happened in the past three years which we need to discuss and which we need to decide upon how we member nations of ASEAN will jointly move forward.

And so this is the purpose of the trip. And once again, we will promote the Philippines not only as an investment center, not only as a tourism center, but as a partner, a global partner for our ASEAN member nations and for all our friends around the world who will be joining the ASEAN Conference.

And with that, I just would like to thank all our ASEAN partner members for the interest that they have shown in the new policies that we have established here in the Philippines since I took office. So with that, I think we have a very good foundation on which to build upon within ASEAN and without ASEAN.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Mabuhay po kayong lahat. [applause]

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Watch here: PBBM's participation to the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Location: NAIA Terminal II, Pasay City