Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 17) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the continued civil war in Myanmar and urged the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address the worsening violence.
“We cannot also discuss peace and stability in our region without recognizing the need to address the worsening violence and the plight of the people of Myanmar through pro-active engagement of all the stakeholders involved,” Marcos said Sunday.
The president is in Tokyo for the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
Marcos said members of the ASEAN should deal with the increasing violence in Myanmar “through the Five Point Consensus, the United Nations Mechanism and the AHA Center, or the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.”
In September, Myanmar rejected the call of ASEAN members to stop the attacks on civilians, saying that their views are biased and one-sided.
Myanmar has been under military control since February 2021. Two years later, at least 3,000 anti-coup activists and civilians were reported killed.
The civil war began after the military seized power shortly after the general elections in Myanmar’s 2020 polls, which Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy won by landslide. Her re-election is the result of the country’s second democratic election since the end of military rule in 2011.
