APHR Urges the Philippines to Reject the Legitimization of Myanmar Junta

JAKARTA, 12 April 2026—ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) strongly urges the Philippines, in its capacity as ASEAN Chair, to reject any move that legitimizes Myanmar’s military junta following the installation of Min Aung Haling as president.

Emerging from a military-controlled and sham process, Min Aung Hlaing’s violent regime offers no indication of a return to democracy—now or in the future. It is a calculated attempt to rebrand military rule under a civilian facade, while the junta continues to wage violence against its own people.

APHR stresses that continued engagement with the junta—despite the complete failure to implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus—only emboldens the military and erodes ASEAN’s credibility. The persistence of airstrikes, mass arrests, and the systematic exclusion of democratic actors exposes the hollowness of claims that engagement will lead to meaningful progress.

As ASEAN Chair, the Philippines bears a heightened responsibility to uphold the bloc’s principles and respond decisively. Engagement that treats the junta as a legitimate governing authority risks normalizing military rule and betraying the democratic aspirations of the Myanmar people.

APHR calls on the Philippines to immediately recalibrate its approach by refusing to engage in ways that confer legitimacy on the junta. Instead, ASEAN member states must prioritize engagement with democratic representatives, including the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), the National Unity Government (NUG), Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs), and civil society actors.

ASEAN must intensify support for locally led and cross-border humanitarian assistance and advance concrete pathways for accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the military.

Min Aung Hlaing’s presidency must not be recognized as legitimate. Regional responses must be grounded in accountability and aligned with the will of the Myanmar people—not the narratives of a regime hardly masking its violence with the language of reform. Anything less risks entrenching impunity and prolonging the crisis.

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For inquiries:

Elsa Jade
Myanmar & Crisis Response Program Coordinator
[email protected]

Neal Roxas
Media and Communications Officer
[email protected]