CONTINUITY KEY AS PHILIPPINES TAKES ASEAN CHAIRSHIP IN 2026

By Linda Khoo

CEBU CITY (Philippines), Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Continuity will be crucial as the Philippines assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026, with Manila expected to build on Malaysia’s 2025 priorities to sustain momentum, preserve unity and strengthen confidence in the bloc.

Datuk Dr Ilango Karuppannan, an adjunct professor at the University of Malaya, said Malaysia approached its 2025 Chairmanship as one of stewardship by advancing collectively agreed agendas, reinforcing ASEAN centrality, and maintaining unity amid growing external uncertainty.

“Continuity is critical. ASEAN’s effectiveness has always depended on its ability to sustain agreed priorities over time rather than recalibrate its direction with each change of chairmanship.

“For the Philippines, maintaining that continuity would help consolidate momentum, ensure policy coherence and strengthen confidence among ASEAN member states as well as external partners,” he told Bernama.

The Philippines assumes the ASEAN Chairship in 2026 under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” which focuses on collective efforts to strengthen peace and security, enhance prosperity and empower people across the region.

With ASEAN’s strategic direction mapped out under Malaysia’s 2025 Chairmanship, Karuppannan said the Philippines’ challenge will be to keep the bloc focused on implementation, ensuring commitments such as the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 translate into practical outcomes across member states.

“As Chair, the Philippines will play an important role in turning shared commitments into deliverables, while ensuring implementation remains inclusive and sensitive to differing national capacities.

“Instruments such as the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 are the product of collective agreement and long negotiation. Their real value lies in implementation, coordination and sustained political attention,” he said.

During its 2025 Chairmanship, Malaysia advanced key frameworks, strengthened institutional mechanisms and launched pilot programmes across all three ASEAN pillars – the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).

When asked about the major tests for the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship, a retired Malaysian ambassador with years of frontline diplomatic experience said a key challenge would be preserving ASEAN centrality amid an increasingly contested strategic environment.

He said recent developments, including signals from the United States’ defence strategy, suggest US–China rivalry is likely to intensify, with direct implications for regional security dynamics.

“In this context, ASEAN will be increasingly expected to play a more active role — not merely as a convenor, but as a manager of regional affairs, helping to maintain dialogue, reduce miscalculation and prevent escalation.

“This expectation places greater demands on ASEAN’s diplomatic machinery,” he said.

Karuppannan said ASEAN must also step up in managing intra-regional tensions, such as renewed strains between Thailand and Cambodia, to prevent them from widening or becoming entangled in external rivalries.

For the Philippines, he said a key test will be whether ASEAN can strengthen its crisis-management role while maintaining unity and credibility, in line with its long-standing preference for restraint and consensus.

On the upcoming AMM Retreat held in Cebu City, the first official ASEAN meeting of the year under the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairship, Karuppannan said long-standing regional issues are likely to remain central to discussions.

“Myanmar continues to pose a serious challenge, with limited progress on de-escalation and ongoing humanitarian concerns.

“The South China Sea will also remain a priority, as developments on the ground continue to carry implications for regional stability and ASEAN cohesion.

“These issues are pressing not because they are new, but because they directly test ASEAN’s unity, credibility and capacity to manage security challenges in its immediate neighbourhood,” he said.

Beyond these familiar dossiers, Karuppannan said he hoped ministers would also engage candidly with the changing global environment.

He pointed to the gradual erosion of multilateralism, including the US withdrawal from established forums and the emergence of controversial ideas such as alternative “Boards of Peace”, which could undermine inclusive, rules-based cooperation.

“For ASEAN, these trends matter not only because they weaken the global order, but because they create new pressures on ASEAN unity, especially if member states respond differently to shifting external alignments,” he added.

The AMM Retreat will bring together foreign ministers and senior officials from 11 member states here to chart the bloc’s agenda ahead of the ASEAN Summits and Related Meetings in May and November.

Meanwhile, Philippines Spokesperson for ASEAN Matters, Dominic Xavier M. Imperial, said the retreat will provide an opportunity for foreign ministers to align on ASEAN’s priorities for the year, review the outcomes of recent ASEAN summits, and exchange views on key regional and global developments affecting the region.

He said the Philippines will steer discussions based on its three priorities — Peace and Security Anchors, Prosperity Corridors and People Empowerment — while also addressing cross-cutting issues such as maritime cooperation, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, climate change and disaster preparedness.

“We are also looking to strengthen maritime cooperation in the region, which is important not only for the Philippines but also for individual member states.

“As ASEAN Chair, the Philippines will shepherd these priorities, and we would like to see progress in these areas,” he said.

-- BERNAMA