Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro led an ASEAN Monitoring Team Mission of the AHA Centre in Taunggyi, Southern Shan State in Myanmar on Wednesday, October 28. Photo from Secretary Lazaro’s X account.
Manuel Mogato | October 29, 2026
MANILA — The Philippine foreign secretary on Wednesday led the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in distributing humanitarian assistance to displaced families in Myanmar.
The ASEAN chair Ma. Theresa Lazaro’s two-day visit to the strife-torn Southeast Asian state will also determine if ASEAN can reintegrate Myanmar five years after generals seized political power.
Myanmar faced years of isolation and was barred from ASEAN summit meetings for failing to comply with the bloc’s April 2021 peace plan, which called for an end to violence, dialogue among contending parties, mediation through a special envoy, humanitarian aid, and full access to stakeholders.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Lazaro led an ASEAN Monitoring Team mission to distribute humanitarian support in Myanmar’s Kayin State, Southern Shan State and Northern Shan State. (Also read: ASEAN makes headway in Myanmar, Code of Conduct negotiations)
In coordination with Myanmar’s Red Cross, the ASEAN Humanitarian Center distributed 50-kilogram bags of rice, personal hygiene kits and other essential items to more than 11,000 households through November.
Japan joined the humanitarian mission.
The Philippines also handed over a religious building and school kits to students in schools it helped build after the 2025 earthquake in central Myanmar.
The humanitarian mission came weeks before ASEAN holds its annual summit in Manila.
The ASEAN humanitarian mission comes as Myanmar seeks to improve its image to gain political legitimacy abroad, as the United States and other Western states treated it as a pariah state and imposed sanctions against its leaders.