President assesses situation in Middle East amid growing tension -- Romualdez

The Manila Times

President assesses situation in Middle East amid growing tension -- Romualdez  Speaker Martin Romualdez says President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. attended an 'urgent call' to assess the situation in the Middle East. 'With the growing tensions in the Middle East, we have to secure our Filipinos who are in the region so we wanted to make security arrangements,' Romualdez told reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Vientiane, Laos on Oct. 9, 2024. The Speaker declined to comment on the other issues discussed during the ongoing Asean summit,  saying he did not want to preempt the President.  Video by Cath Valente  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Sign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newsletters   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #themanilatimes #tmtnews  #marcos  #asean

Transcript

00:00Filipinos who are in the region, so we want to make the security arrangements and make sure that amidst the growing tensions, that we secure our Filipinos in the region.

00:15Was the South China Sea in any way discussed during the war? Or was it referred to during the war?

00:21Just general references on easing tensions in the region to foster stability and peace, the passage of prosperity for all in the region.

00:38Sir, how different was the statement of President Marcos in this year's ASEAN compared to the previous summits?

00:43I think it's a follow-up on the previous statements and it's a build-up on how the ASEAN has been growing and strengthening and partnerships have fostered wealth for ASEAN as a regional force.

01:01We all recognize that this year, the whole work of growth in global economy, having a lot of potential, is moving forward.

01:13Can we just go back to the ASEAN NATO? Do you think it's a necessary mechanism for the region?

01:23There were no direct references to that, so I really can't comment on that.

01:29In terms of the final text that's going to be issued at the joint statement, is there a particular set of wordings that the Philippines is hoping to push for?

01:37Well, I don't want to pre-empt the process. It's a work in progress, as you know, and we have a consensus building mechanism.

01:48Of course, the Philippines will be putting forth a statement jointly with the rest of our regional neighbours.

01:58Sir, how grave is the situation in the Middle East for the President to choose a virtual conference over attending the retreat?

02:09Well, it was just an urgent call to assess the situation there. The President is at the retreat now, so he didn't miss out on it.

02:22He just had to attend also to an important call to secure our Philippines.

02:29Sir, would you be free if we asked for the policies that were discussed during the video conference?

02:35We don't want to pre-empt any other...

02:40Sir, will there be a bilateral meeting with China?

02:43There's none that I see in the calendar. Thank you.

Category

Transcript

Recommended