Marcos, Anwar tackle Myanmar situation during bilateral meeting

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday that the situation in Myanmar was tackled during his bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

In the joint statement, Anwar said they discussed how minorities are being treated in Myanmar.

"We did touch upon Myanmar to strengthen the five-point consensus of ASEAN, but also give some flexibility, room, and space for neighboring countries to engage on an informal basis without sacrificing the issues of human rights and the treatment of minorities, particularly the Rohingyans and other Burmese middle minorities in Myanmar," Anwar said.

On July 12, the ASEAN foreign ministers called for regional unity in addressing the intensifying conflict in Myanmar amid doubts about the bloc's capability to implement a two-year-old peace process that has yet to get off the ground.

Myanmar has been hounded with fighting since the military seized power in early 2021 before unleashing a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy opponents.

This prompted a wave of retaliatory attacks by a resistance movement and ethnic minority armies.

Marcos said he and Anwar recognized the importance of ASEAN Centrality in addressing regional issues.

"We reaffirmed our commitment to support our activities within the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)," Marcos said.

"However, having said that, we also agreed that we can explore not only along multilateral lines all of the issues that are facing us in the region but also that there is utility in us promoting a bilateral relationship, especially between Malaysia and the Philippines and our other partners in ASEAN," he added. —VBL, GMA Integrated News