Marcos says some leaders want Myanmar removed from ASEAN

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos said that some ASEAN member states want Myanmar removed from the regional organization, but underscored that all parties involved in the crisis should be heard.

In an interview with reporters before leaving Cambodia on Sunday, the President said many ASEAN heads of state were worried about the peace situation in Myanmar, which has been governed since February 2021 by the military junta that overthrew the ruling party, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Actually ang main worry ng marami sa mga leaders is Myanmar. That the Five-Point [Consensus] that they had agreed with ASEAN—that Myanmar had agreed with ASEAN, eh hindi nasusunod. Anong gagawin natin?" Marcos said.

"And that was a little contentious. Kasi may mga bansa, sabi nila, basta tanggalin na natin ang Myanmar sa ASEAN. O basta’t huwag nating imbitahin at all. Mayroon naman nagsasabi na hindi huwag lang ‘yung mga nasa taas, pero ‘yung sa ilalim kailangan pa rin natin kausapin ‘yan. Meron naman, tayo ‘yun," he added.

Marcos said that he stressed that all parties should be heard.

"Sinabi ko, kausapin natin lahat. Kausapin pati ‘yung nasa position, pati ‘yung nasa nakaupo, pati ‘yung naka—kahit naman sino na interesado dapat kausapin natin o pag-usapin natin. So that was—all of us came down on different—slightly different positions along the entire spectrum of completely kicking out Myanmar from ASEAN and for engaging them fully," he said.

"Nobody wanted to engage the generals. Nobody wanted to engage the high-level officials. But there are certain—iba-ibang level of engagement ang kanilang ina-ano, ang kanilang sinasabi," he added.

Marcos has called for the speedy implementation of the Five-Point Consensus to address the peace situation and crisis in Myanmar.

He also encouraged other ASEAN leaders to continue taking a "constructive approach" in engaging the stakeholders in Myanmar consistent with their shared vision of the regional body, which is "people-centered and people-oriented."

Myanmar has been trapped in a cycle of violence since the army ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021, detaining her and thousands of activists and launching a bloody crackdown on protests and dissent.

A Myanmar junta court had sentenced Suu Kyi to three years in jail over electoral fraud during 2020 polls, which her party won in a landslide.

Suu Kyi was also convicted of corruption and a clutch of other charges by a closed junta court and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Meanwhile, more than 2,300 people have been killed in the brutal crackdown on dissent after the coup, according to a local monitor.

Just like last year, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was not invited to the ASEAN summit. Myanmar's top diplomat Wunna Maung Lwin was also excluded from ministerial talks in February and August. — BM, GMA Integrated News