President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday said he feels “honored” to have met the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and dialogue partners during his “very successful” trip to Cambodia for the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh.

“I was honored to meet them and I thanked them for their efforts and contribution to our nation’s progress and development, as well as that of Cambodia’s,” said the President in his arrival speech at the Villamor Airbase.

The chief executive said he was able to “articulate our national interests” during his four-day trip to Cambodia.

“Tayo, sa Pilipinas, we also got the opportunity to put forward our position, our plans, and to find ways where we can help each other,” the President pointed out.

During the summits, Marcos said there was “a very large area of consensus” among ASEAN member states.

“Pare-pareho kasi, food supply, presyo ng fertilizer, presyo ng langis, yun ang inaalala. Supply side problems, parehong-pareho sa atin… Nagkakaunawaan lahat ng member states. Hindi kaya nang mag-isa, kailangan sama-sama,” said Marcos.

“In all these meetings, we articulated our national interests and our commitment to working with ASEAN and our Dialogue Partners to find common ground to address the issues affecting our region and to strengthen cooperation,” the President pointed out.

The President cited his bilateral discussions with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and congratulated him on Cambodia’s successful Chairmanship of ASEAN this year.

The President said he also had bilateral meetings with leaders from Brunei, the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, and Canada.

“In these meetings, we discussed how we can deepen cooperation in key areas and exchanged views on important regional and global issues,” Marcos pointed out.

The President also thanked the Cambodian government for extending warm hospitality to the Philippine delegation. #