The Department of Foreign Affairs assured on Friday, October 4, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will bring up the recent developments in the West Philippine Sea during the 44th and 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Laos.

"The President will continue to defend the Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law including the 1982 (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the 2016 arbitral award," DFA Asec. Daniel Espiritu said in a press briefing in Malacanang.

"The President always champions that issue, yeah, in all of the summits from the very start," Espiritu stressed.

The DFA official also confirmed that President Marcos will also discuss the issue of human trafficking, which affects not only the Philippines but also other ASEAN member states.

"In fact, some of them dinadala din sa Philippines, some people of other nationalities, and it’s happening in mainland Southeast Asia, and may counterparts iyong (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator) in other ASEAN member states, and so we are actually actively cooperating on that," he added.

Aside from issues regarding the West Philippine Sea and human trafficking, Espiritu said that the ASEAN leaders will also 'exchange views on key regional and international issues beyond consensus on matters of common concern and provide policy directions'.

"The leaders are also expected to discuss various international issues that impact the region and beyond and this include the situation in Myanmar, Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula, Gaza and other geopolitical challenges affecting the Indo-Pacific Region," Espiritu said.

Aside from the ASEAN member states, the countries China, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Australia, India, Canada will also take part in the summits.