President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to participate in the virtual meeting of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on June 26, the Palace said on Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he has no information yet on the issues the President will tackle during the summit.
“Marami po actually ‘yung mga programa, hindi lang sa mga namumuno. Anyway, in due course po, dahil medyo next week pa naman po ‘yan, siguro po pupuwede natin isapubliko ‘yung agenda ng mga iba’t ibang ASEAN meetings,” he said in a televised briefing.
Duterte, in April, joined fellow ASEAN leaders and its dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea in a special virtual summit on COVID-19.
Duterte said to the world leaders at the time that ASEAN must keep markets open and ensure food security as well as supply chain connectivity.
Duterte also expressed support for the creation of regional reserves of medical supplies “to better equip us in this fight” and urged nations to strengthen the capacity of their healthcare systems.
Duterte also said that all countries should be given “fair and easy” access to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 once they become available.
Vietnam holds the chairmanship of ASEAN this year./Stacy Ang
