President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday attended a virtual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the second straight year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duterte was joined by leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, host of the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits.
Myanmar was a no-show at the meetings after its junta refused to send a representative following its leader’s exclusion for ignoring a peace roadmap agreed in April.
The February 1 coup ousted Myanmar’s civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said Duterte was expected to exchange views with his counterparts on the region’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, ASEAN community building initiatives, as well as regional and other international developments.
Roque has not responded to queries on what was discussed during Day 1 of the summit as of posting time.
The meetings will run until Thursday.
Last year’s chair Vietnam also hosted the meetings via video conferencing. — VBL, GMA News
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