JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Philippines has accepted a request to host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in 2026, or a year earlier than scheduled.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the announcement during the opening plenary session of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 5.

“It is my pleasure to announce that the Philippines is ready to take the helm and chair ASEAN in 2026,” said Marcos in his intervention, or speech, during the opening session.

In effect, Myanmar is letting go of its turn in the rotation of ASEAN chairmanships.

A report from Reuters said that on Tuesday, ASEAN leaders came to a consensus on not allowing Myanmar to chair the bloc in 2026 as originally scheduled, according to one source in Jakarta and another in the region.

Manila was supposed to be chair in 2027, in time for the bloc’s 60th anniversary, with junta-ruled Myanmar slated to chair in 2026.

Chairmanship of ASEAN means a country will host two summits in the year – the first, with only ASEAN leaders in attendance, and the second, with the bloc’s key dialogue partners such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, and China sending representatives, including their heads of state or government.

Myanmar has skipped chairing ASEAN in the past – in 2006, citing the need to focus on “national reconciliation and democratization.” Indonesia also swapped places with Brunei to chair ASEAN in 2013 because Jakarta was also host to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation that same year.

The ASEAN chair is responsible not just for the leaders-level summits but all the other gatherings for the bloc, including those between foreign ministers, senior officials, and permanent representatives, among others.

The next ASEAN chair will be Laos in 2024, followed by Malaysia in 2025.

Talk of Myanmar skipping its turn had been going on for months. A decision on who would host in 2026 was expected to be made in Jakarta.

In Jakarta, too, leaders are expected to discuss the situation in Myanmar and the junta’s noncompliance with the bloc’s five-point consensus.

None of Myanmar’s political leaders are present during ASEAN summits. The country is represented only by civic society leaders in the regional gathering. – with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com