President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said he was successful in asserting the national interests of the Philippines during the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, respectively in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

He revealed that while leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had contrasting views on certain issues, he said he was "honored" to meet them and be able to articulate to them "our national interests."

"I was honored to meet them and I thanked them for their efforts and contribution to our nation's progress and development, as well as that of Cambodia's," said Marcos in his arrival speech at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City following his four-day trip to Cambodia.

"The Philippines — we also got the opportunity to put forward our position, our plans, and to find ways where we can help each other," he said.

Crisis in Myanmar

In a media interview before he left Phnom Penh, Marcos said ASEAN leaders had different positions over the "contentious" issue of whether or not Myanmar must remain a member of the regional bloc.

Leaders, he said, are particularly concerned over the failure of Myanmar's military to follow the Five-Point Consensus it concurred in April last year.

"The main worry of many leaders in Myanmar is that the Five-Point (consensus) that they had agreed with ASEAN — that Myanmar had agreed with ASEAN, but it wasn't followed. So what are we going to do? And that was a little contentious," he told reporters.

Other leaders, he said, wanted the Burmese nation to be "completely kicked" out from ASEAN, while the rest wanted to pursue the peace plan, which calls for an urgent end to violence and step up dialogues between the military and the opposition movement.

"There were nations that wanted to remove Myanmar from ASEAN or not invite them at all. There were others who said it was important to talk to not just high-ranking officials, but lower-ranking ones," he said.

The Philippine government urged the leaders to include both high and low-ranking Burmese officials in the discussions.

"I said let's talk to everyone. Talk to those in power, those seated… and anyone interested to talk," he said.

Marcos has called for the quick implementation of the Five-Point Consensus plan to address the century-old conflict in Myanmar during the 41st ASEAN Summit Retreat.

The ASEAN appealed to the United Nations and its external partners to back efforts in line with the implementation of the peace plan.

Territorial dispute

Meanwhile, on the issue of the South China Sea, Marcos said all leaders agreed to apply the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and uphold the international rule of law.

"Everybody, including the Chinese, says we follow UNCLOS and the international law, so at least that position of ASEAN is clear," he said.

He admitted, though, that the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea has not been moving forward.

"Well, nothing new actually has happened in terms of the code of conduct. We all just restated over and over again. We need to have a code of conduct," he said. "We need to have a code of conduct. That's as far as you can go."

"It is urgent. It is becoming more and more urgent, and we really should — the negotiations and the finalization of the code of conduct. There's been some progress in the past year, but we really need to have the actual code of conduct, already finalized and already in place as soon as possible," he added.

During the summit, Marcos called on his fellow ASEAN leaders to remain committed to maintaining peace and stability in the disputed waters.

"We must ensure that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace, a sea of security and stability, and prosperity. With the UNCLOS and international law as our basis, the South China Sea will be a nexus of vibrant economic engagements and interactions, not an epicenter of armed conflict or geopolitical maneuverings," Marcos said at the 17th East Asia Summit.

Taiwan issue

The President added that the bloc reached a consensus to abide by the One-China Policy, a position held by China that there is only a single sovereign state under the name China and that Taiwan is part of China.

"We believe that Taiwan is part of China but you must resolve those issues peacefully. That's all ASEAN is asking for. Don't cause trouble," he said, referring to the current tensions between China and Taiwan, a self-governing territory.

Tensions over Taiwan are spiking over a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which has further strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

Same predicament

On the other hand, Marcos said all ASEAN leaders are experiencing the same problems in their respective home countries, such as issues in the supply chain.

The President said there was "a very large area of consensus" among ASEAN member states, and all understood the need for them to remain united in confronting these issues.

"We have the same problems, food supply, prices of fertilizer, prices of oil, supply problems. It's all the same… Member states understand that we can't do this alone. We need to be united, we need to help each other," he said.

Marcos added that he and other state leaders discussed ASEAN community-building efforts, pressing regional concerns and issues such as the situation in Myanmar, the developments in the South China Sea, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the application of Timor-Leste for ASEAN membership, among others.

"We reviewed the progress of our relations so far, in the initiatives and projects under ASEAN-led mechanisms. There was an exploration of possible new areas of cooperation with our dialogue partners. We exchanged views on regional and international issues," he said.

Marcos tackled comprehensive post-Covid-19 economic recovery with executives from the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Forum and World Bank.

He is hopeful that Cambodian business leaders would consider his invitation to do business in the country.

"I invited the business leaders to visit and have a look at what the opportunities that they might find in the Philippines, arising from the process of transforming the economy, given that it seems our direction for post-pandemic recovery is bearing fruit," he said.

He added: "Our discussions touched on collaboration on specific sectors such as food processing, energy, housing, medical care, the manufacture of garments (and) bags, education (and) training."