Undersecretary Claire Castro, in a briefing with reporters on Monday, October 27, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not miss the ASEAN-Japan Summit — but was not part of the photo op that preceded it because he was in an extended bilateral meeting with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The ASEAN-Japan Summit took place on Sunday, October 26, and was Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s first engagement with the bloc since she was elected to the post just less than a week ago.
The ASEAN-Japan Summit was scheduled at around 4 pm that day, following what would have been a fairly long break from the 47th ASEAN Summit Retreat. However, the ASEAN-US Summit, originally set for around 7 pm that night, was bumped up to around 2 pm instead.
Footage from the ASEAN broadcast center that was also aired by Malacañang’s RTVM shows Marcos inside the hall by the time the summit itself started. Schedules during ASEAN summits are packed but also quite fluid and unpredictable — they can shift at a moment’s notice.
