Lazaro said that as the incoming Asean chair, Manila is committed to prioritising the bloc’s collective interests over its own bilateral concerns.
“As the chair of Asean, the Philippines will not be putting forward our bilateral issues. Our bilateral matters with other countries will remain strictly bilateral.
“This will not be an obstacle or have any effect on our chairmanship, because we are very conscious that we are representing Asean and its collective interests,” she said in an interview with FMT.
Lazaro reaffirmed Manila’s commitment to diplomacy and dialogue, stating that the Philippines will push to advance the long-delayed Code of Conduct (CoC) for the South China Sea — an initiative aimed at peacefully managing regional disputes.
She said her country intends to build on progress achieved with China to fast-track negotiations so that the CoC completes within three years.
On Myanmar, Lazaro said Manila would continue the process undertaken during Malaysia’s current chairmanship rather than seek to overhaul it.
“We’re not going to reinvent the wheel. We have to build on what has already been done and what has been achieved,” she said.
Myanmar has seen widespread unrest following a military coup in February 2021, which has drawn international concern.
In the same year, Asean drew up its Five-Point Consensus, calling for an immediate cessation of violence, the provision of humanitarian aid, dialogue, the appointment of a special envoy, and unrestricted access for the envoy to engage with all parties involved.
However, internal divisions persist within Asean over how best to engage Myanmar amid the deepening humanitarian crisis.
On Saturday, foreign minister Mohamad Hasan said member states had during the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in July, agreed that any election in Myanmar must be fair, transparent, inclusive and credible, stressing the importance of inclusive dialogue before the polls.
Responding to claims that Asean has stalled on Myanmar, Lazaro acknowledged there had been some disagreement but said it should not be seen as failure but “a reflection of the principles we honour”.
“Consensus may not always be achieved, but that is precisely the purpose of Asean — to uphold the principles of non-interference and mutual respect,” she said.