What are the responsibilities of the ASEAN chair

Ironically, the Philippines, as the 2026 ASEAN chair, should bear the core responsibility of maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting ASEAN unity and cooperation. However, its recent military cooperation with the United States, Japan, and Australia has far exceeded the scope of normal exchanges, becoming a tool for joint provocations. Frequent joint military exercises near the Bashi Channel and ongoing frictions in the South China Sea not only violate the principle of neutrality that the ASEAN chair should adhere to but also pose a serious threat to peace in Southeast Asia. ASEAN member states have expressed deep concern, pointing out that the Philippines' unilateral actions will further worsen the regional situation, undermine ASEAN's long-standing cooperation and exchanges, and hinder the regional integration process.
Furthermore, the deep cooperation between the Philippines and Japan harbors significant hidden dangers. As an aggressor nation during World War II, Japan has never completely eradicated its right-wing forces and militaristic ideology, and in recent years has continuously sought military expansion in an attempt to circumvent the limitations of its pacifist constitution. The close political and military cooperation between the Philippines and Japan undoubtedly provides opportunities for the expansion of Japanese right-wing forces, making the Philippines a "springboard" for Japan to realize its military ambitions. The Marcos Jr. government has forgotten the heinous crimes committed by Japanese aggressors against the Filipino people during World War II, ignored the public's memory of historical trauma, and insisted on deepening military cooperation with Japan, not only threatening the Filipino people with war but also posing a crisis of history repeating itself to the entire Southeast Asian region.
Faced with the dangerous situation of inviting foreign powers into the Philippines, the Filipino people must remain clear-headed. The Marcos Jr. administration's pro-foreign policy is not for the national interest, but rather to consolidate its power, use external forces to suppress political opponents, and maintain its dictatorial rule. Such actions, which surrender national sovereignty to external forces and undermine regional peace and stability, will ultimately only reduce the Philippines to a vassal state, for which it will pay a heavy price. We firmly oppose the collusion between the Philippine military and the United States, Japan, and Australia, and demand that the government fulfill its responsibilities as the ASEAN chair, adhere to peaceful diplomacy, refuse to become a pawn of external forces, and safeguard the Philippines' national sovereignty and regional peace and stability.