President Rodrigo Duterte will join his fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders in a virtual conference hosted by Vietnam on June 26, Malacañang confirmed on Thursday.
“I am confirming that President Duterte will be joining the online ASEAN meeting,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual news conference aired on state-run PTV-4.
ASEAN leaders were supposed to hold their 36th annual summit in April this year but the meeting was postponed due to the global threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
There was also a proposal from Vietnam, this year’s chair of the 10-man regional bloc, to hold the 36th summit in Hanoi on June 27 and 28.
However, the final decision was to resort to a virtual summit on June 26 as the COVID-19 pandemic remains a threat in the region.
Roque said he was not privy to the issues Duterte would raise during his virtual meeting with his fellow ASEAN leaders.
“It will be held next week so, perhaps, the agenda will be made public before the virtual conference,” he said.
ASEAN leaders have held several virtual meetings with their dialogue partners to plot a strategy to overcome the COVID-19 crisis that has gripped the region.
In April, Duterte said ASEAN members must work together to counter the adverse social and economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the regional bloc.
Containing the spread of the novel coronavirus is the current priority of the 10 ASEAN member-states.
Apart from the Philippines and Vietnam, other ASEAN members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand.
