President Rodrigo R. Duterte (File photo)

Malacañang on Monday confirmed that President Rodrigo R. Duterte will attend the 38th and 39th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summits and related summits slated from Oct. 26 to 28.

In his regular Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte will join the leaders’ summit through an online video conference.

“Dadalo po ang ating Presidente (Our President will attend) via Zoom or computer hook-up,” Roque said. “As usual po, regular naman po itong mga Asean summit (As usual, these Asean summits are regular).”

The 38th and 39th Asean Summits and Related Summits, with a theme: “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper,” will be hosted by Brunei Darussalam through virtual video conferences due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement released on Oct. 23, host Brunei Darussalam said among the topics to be discussed during the meetings include strengthening the resilience of the Asean Community towards regional recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic; enhancing the preparedness of Asean in addressing common challenges; seizing new opportunities in pursuit of shared prosperity; and maintaining cooperation towards achieving the region’s long term goals.

Brunei has outlined number of deliverables for the Asean agenda based on the three pillars of Asean community building, namely political-security community, economic community, and social-cultural community.

The summit will also be joined by the Asean leaders and its dialogue partners such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of India, United States, Australia, and the Russian Federation.

Aside from Brunei, other Asean members Asean are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.