MANILA — The more than three-months fighting in Marawi City has caused concern among ASEAN member states and its dialogue partners.
This was stressed by Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer-in-charge Catalino S. Cuy during the press briefing on the highlights of the 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes (AMMTC) and the 2nd Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Rise of Violent Extremism Thursday.
In attendance were leaders and heads of delegations from Brunei Darussalam, Kingdom of Cambodia, Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Singapore, Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam while dialogue partners include China, Japan and Republic of Korea
The 11th AMMTC was held last Sept. 18 to 21 at Conrad Grand Hotel in Pasay City.
“During the meeting, the member countries of ASEAN including the dialogue partners there were unanimous in acknowledging the threats in violent extremism. This is a present threat already and they are greatly concerned about the situation in Marawi City and they are hoping that this situation will be resolved at the soonest possible time,” he added.
Cuy also said that these nations agreed that closer coordination, cooperation is needed in countering the terror threat in the region. —DILG-PACS
