Philippines hosts Myanmar political, ethnic groups for 'stakeholder meeting'

MANILA- ASEAN chair the Philippines has welcomed various political and ethnic groups from army-ruled Myanmar to a "stakeholders' meeting", Manila's foreign minister said on Thursday, in a bid to advance the regional bloc's stalled peace plan.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, who took over this year as the ASEAN special envoy on the crisis in war-torn Myanmar, did not name the groups represented or say when the meeting took place.

"I encouraged their active, constructive and meaningful sharing of perspectives on the implementation of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus," she said on X, referring to the peace plan agreed between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Myanmar in 2021.

Lazaro said discussions included advancing deescalation, facilitating aid delivery, addressing transnational crime and fostering political dialogue.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since a 2021 coup triggered a protest movement that has evolved into a civil war between the military on one side and a loose alliance of rebel groups on the other.

The military is currently holding a general election, with two of its three phases of voting completed and results showing low turnout and a party allied with the military winning the majority of seats so far.

Critics have dismissed the vote as a sham to prepetuate army rule through civilian proxies and ASEAN has not sent observers.

Aside from some improvements in humanitarian access, ASEAN's peace plan has largely been a failure, with fighting raging in swathes of the country and the junta refusing to engage in dialogue with opponents it calls "terrorists".

A spokesperson for Myanmar's military government did not answer calls seeking comment. Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government, which is allied with rebel groups, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Philippines is the 2026 ASEAN Chair and the political dialogue comes a week before the regional bloc's foreign ministers head to the central island of Cebu for a retreat.

-Karen Lema; Writing by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty/Reuters