All leaders except Myanmar president will attend ASEAN Summit 2026 in Cebu

LAPU-LAPU CITY– All the heads of state of its member nations, except that of Myanmar, will attend the ASEAN Summit 2026 and related meetings in Cebu, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary and ASEAN spokesman Dominic Xavier Imperial said on Wednesday.

Imperial said Myanmar will be represented by the Permanent Secretary of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Senior Officials' Meeting leader.

Myanmar elected military leader Min Aung Hlaing president through a parliamentary vote in April. He came to power in 2021 when the administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted.

Asked why the new Myanmar president will not attend this year’s ASEAN Summit, Imperial said, "We are guided by the leaders’ decision."

"Noong mayroon pong lumabas na desisyon ‘yung mga leaders noon na (when the leaders had a decision) because of the situation in Myanmar, so ang decision po noon (the decision was that) for the summits, the representation of Myanmar would be their SOM leader and their Permanent Secretary,” Imperial said.

“And for that reason, dahil hindi naman po nabago ‘yun at wala pa naman pong bagong desisyon ‘yung mga leaders, so, ganoon pa rin po (it still stands because the decision of the leaders remained the same). The representation of Myanmar stands,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Imperial said the ASEAN has yet to reach a consensus on whether it will recognize the recent election in Myanmar.

He said there is continued engagement within member-states regarding their relations with Myanmar.

The member-states are also looking at developments regarding the implementation of the five-point consensus (5PC), which calls for the cessation of violence and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, he added.

Aside from Myanmar, the member-states of ASEAN are the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

The Philippines is the chair of ASEAN for 2026. –NB, GMA News