President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (right) shake hands in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Thursday, November 20, 2022. Photo from the Office of the Press Secretary
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has agreed with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that being patient is “the way forward” in dealing with the worsening political crisis in Myanmar.
Marcos and the Cambodian leader held a bilateral meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
READ: Myanmar to dominate ASEAN agenda, but ‘little progress expected’
In a statement released by the Office of the Press Secretary on Friday, Marcos was quoted to have said: “Your advice, Mr. Prime Minister, as you have great experience in this matter, perhaps your advice to be patient, is the best that we can do right now. But we can still do more in terms of engagement in Myanmar. I’m in full agreement with you, Mr. Prime Minister. That is the way forward.”
Marcos also pointed out the need to resolve the Myanmar crisis by examining its political dynamics while engaging the country “in every way possible,” according to the statement.
READ: Asean approach to Myanmar crisis has split the region, reveals new survey
Myanmar spiraled into a civil war following a 2021 military coup d’etat. Data from a local monitoring group claimed that at least 2,100 have already died due to military’s brutal crackdown on dissent in the Southeast Asian nation.
In a bid to defuse the crisis, a peace plan — calling for an end to violence and a boost in dialogues between the military and the opposition – was agreed upon by Myanmar and Asean in April 2021.
But Myanmar has since warned that “inserting additional pressure by setting a timeframe will create more negative implications than positive ones.”
READ: Myanmar junta warns Asean against peace plan ‘pressure’
Aside from the Myanmar crisis, the OPS said Marcos and the Cambodian prime minister also “discussed at length” the ripple effect of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Marcos, who is attending his first Asean summit as the country’s chief executive, likewise had a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Minh Chinh, where they talked about improving ties between Manila and Hanoi, particularly in areas of defense, maritime security, trade, and agriculture.