A group of former foreign ministers and former United Nations experts yesterday urged ASEAN leaders to abandon the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) and adopt new measures at the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu.
The joint statement, issued by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), warned that the junta led by Min Aung Hlaing was exploiting ASEAN’s restraint while escalating atrocities against civilians.
It was signed by former Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya, former Malaysian foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah, former Philippine senator Leila de Lima, and three former UN experts on Myanmar.
“After years of humiliation at the junta’s hands, ASEAN must accept that the tiger’s stripes won’t change,” the signatories said, referring to Min Aung Hlaing’s repeated violations of the bloc’s 5PC adopted in April 2021.
The statement comes as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr chairs the summit in Cebu City on May 7-8, with Myanmar, energy security, food security and maritime cooperation on the agenda.
The group described recent junta gestures toward engagement — including a widely condemned election and unverified claims that deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved from solitary confinement to house arrest — as calculated half-measures designed to secure international legitimacy without genuine concessions.
“The reported relocation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest is a positive step if true, but it remains arbitrary detention,” the statement said, calling for independent monitors, medical personnel and family members to be granted immediate access to the Nobel laureate.
The signatories said March 2026 was the deadliest month for Myanmar civilians since the military seized power in February 2021, with indiscriminate junta attacks claiming more than 500 lives.
The group urged ASEAN, under Philippine leadership, to adopt a new decision on Myanmar that would expand the existing ban on junta representatives at ASEAN meetings to include working-level officials, cutting off what they described as a critical source of political legitimacy for the military government.
The statement also called on ASEAN to continue recognising Win Myint as Myanmar’s legitimate president and to press for full humanitarian access throughout the country, including through cross-border channels.
It also called for a strengthened ASEAN special envoy role on Myanmar, including a longer-term full-time appointment backed by increased staffing and resources.
The Philippines is hosting the 2026 ASEAN chairmanship under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together.”
