Marcos makes unity cry at Asean summit: ‘It’s imperative we reassert Asean centrality’

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has brought his call for unity at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summits in Cambodia.

On Friday, Marcos delivered his intervention speech at the Asean Summit plenary in Phnom Penh and urged Asean members to come together in addressing shared challenges in the region.

“It is imperative that we reassert Asean centrality. This, in the face of geopolitical dynamics and tensions in the region and the proliferation of Indo-Pacific engagements, including the requests of our dialogue partners for closer partnerships,” said Marcos, as quoted in the statement released by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS).

READ: Asean centrality reckons with its moment of truth 

“Asean’s response to this is the forward-looking Asean outlook on the Indo-Pacific, with its essential element of Asean Centrality in the implementation of Asean-led mechanisms, projects, and initiatives for our community building efforts,” he further said.

Marcos then raised that strengthening Asean solidarity could help its members confront challenges like natural disasters, health emergencies, armed conflict, and economic recessions.

He also reiterated that Myanmar should adhere to the so-called five-point consensus, which calls to end violence and encourages dialogues between the southeast Asian nation’s military forces and opposition movement.

READ: Myanmar to dominate ASEAN agenda, but ‘little progress expected’

Marcos likewise sought to bolster the region’s economies through tourism recovery, energy cooperation, and trade and investment revitalization.

“We should enhance Asean food security cooperation through strengthened initiatives and expanded projects under the Asean Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry and other related mechanisms, including those with our dialogue partners,” he added.

Marcos, who concurrently sits as chief of the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture, further underscored the “need to solidify food resilience and promote food self-sufficiency through the use of new agricultural technologies.”

According to him, this would cushion the region and the Asean countries from “shocks to the global food value chain, as well as against adverse effects of climate change.”

‘Collective responsibility’ vs climate crisis

Marcos also pitched the need to address the climate crisis as a “collective responsibility.”

“Addressing climate change is our collective responsibility and developed countries should play a bigger role in global efforts to mitigate its risks, its effects, its damage and loss,” he said.

He pointed out that developing nations suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate shocks.

He added that they also have fewer resources to use in handling the aftermath of these shocks.

Marcos urged the Asean leaders to unite and push back against the climate crisis by fulfilling their countries’ obligation in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

READ: What does carbon neutral mean? 

Additionally, he urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take a harder line on environmental protection and green economic  strategies by “using new agricultural technologies.”

“We need to shift our paradigm from the old, traditional farming methods to climate-smart agricultural systems, to better shield us against the ongoing adverse effects of climate change,” Marcos explained.

“The measures we seek to undertake, hopefully, will enable us to become smarter, more responsible, more sustainable in all that we do,” he also said.

Marcos also spoke on improving digitalization and cyber cooperation in commercial and healthcare sectors during his intervention address.

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/abc