Philippines, Cambodia agree 'patience' is best way to deal with Myanmar
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed that "patience" is key to dealing with the deepening crisis in Myanmar.
The two leaders made this remark in a bilateral meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh.
"So perhaps your advice Mr. Prime Minister as you have great experience in this matter, perhaps your advice to be patient, is the best that we can do right now. But we can still do more in terms of engagement in Myanmar. I'm in full agreement with you, Mr. Prime Minister, that that is the way forward," Marcos told the Cambodian leader in the meeting.
Marcos also raised the need to examine the "dynamics" of politics in Myanmar while engaging with the country "in every way possible."
In April last year, ASEAN member states, which included Myanmar, agreed on a peace plan known as the "five-point consensus."
The peace plan sought to call for an urgent end to violence as well as step up dialogues between the military and the opposition movement.
After the military coup in 2021 that overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, widespread unrest has been reported in the junta-led nation as civilians denounced the military rule.
Marcos and Hun Sen met at the Peace Palace in the Cambodian capital, which is hosting the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits from November 10 to 13.
In his remarks, Marcos said apart from the crisis in Myanmar, they have also talked "at length" about the war in Ukraine.
"The last bilateral meeting I had was with the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Hun Sen, and we discussed at length Myanmar and the possible areas of agreement within the different member states in ASEAN, including the problems that we are feeling from the conflict in eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine," the President said after concluding meetings on the first day of the ASEAN summit. Presidential News Desk
