DILI, 23 May 2025 (TATOLI) – The Philippines has formally expressed its support for Timor-Leste’s bid to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an expansion of the ASEAN membership true to this year’s summit theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” a foreign affairs official said on Thursday.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to attend the 2025 ASEAN Summit, which will take place in Malaysia on May 26–27.
The summit will be hosted and chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim under this year’s unifying theme of “Inclusivity and Sustainability.”
“We are supportive of Timor-Leste joining the ASEAN,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Deputy Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial said in a Malacañang press briefing on Thursday.
Imperial noted that ASEAN members are collectively adhering to a defined roadmap for Timor-Leste’s accession, reflecting the group’s ongoing commitment to regional expansion and integration.
“The Timor-Leste accession to the ASEAN is certainly on the agenda… We are following, actually, a roadmap,” Imperial said.
Addressing questions about the past controversy involving former Representative Arnie Teves and its connection to Timor-Leste, Imperial clarified that “the matter remains under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and falls outside the scope of ASEAN discussions.”
TATOLI
