BRUNEI’S leader has renewed his country’s commitment to work closely with the Philippines on peace efforts, according to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s office.
“We will continue to support your government’s efforts in ensuring peace and stability through various initiatives in southern Philippines including our participation in the unification and modification assistance,” Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei told Mr. Marcos during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Cambodia, based on a press release from Malacañang.
Brunei is a member of the International Monitoring Team and the independent decommissioning body overseeing the peace process in the Bangsamoro region in the southern island of Mindanao.
It is also part of the East ASEAN Growth Area, an economic sub-grouping composed of Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines, and neighboring areas of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Mr. Marcos cited climate change and food insecurity as issues that world leaders need to act on “decisively and immediately,” the Palace said in a separate press release.
“It has become glaringly clear that there is a dire need to strengthen food security towards self-sufficiency in our region, to increase adaptability and resilience in the face of threats to the global supply chain,” he told leaders in his intervention during the 17th East Asia Summit. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza