Philippines foreign minister says she plans to meet Myanmar ethnic groups soon

MANILA – Philippine Foreign Minister Ma. Theresa Lazaro said on June 10 that she intends to meet ethnic groups from Myanmar in the coming days to learn about the situation and seek solutions.

“I intend to meet with certain ethnic armed groups and to find out the situation and how we can really try to help,” Lazaro said at a forum organised by Nikkei in Tokyo.

The Philippines is chair of ASEAN in 2026, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has appointed Lazaro as his special envoy to Myanmar.

Lazaro did not specify whom she will meet and where will the meeting be held.

“We’ll see how it works,” Lazaro added.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since 2021 when protests against a coup were brutally suppressed by the military, unleashing civil war involving a loose alliance of rebel groups.

Myanmar’s leadership has since been barred from attending top ASEAN meetings, but the regional bloc has been seeking ways to re-engage with Myanmar since a new, nominally civilian government took over in April.

Myanmar’s President Min Aung Hlaing has said his new government will strive to normalise relations with ASEAN.

In January, Manila convened a “stakeholders’ meeting” that assembled several ethnic rebel groups to find solutions to the crisis. REUTERS