‘Navigating Our Future, Together’: ASEAN leaders to tackle regional issues in Manila summit
The Philippines is gearing up to host thousands of journalists from around the world as preparations continue for the 49th ASEAN Summit, which begins on Sunday.
The World Trade Center in Pasay City has been transformed into an International Media Center that will serve as the headquarters of journalists covering the summit and its attending world leaders.
The facility features a spacious media center where officials are expected to hold press briefings, as well as smaller rooms for briefings by delegations from various countries.
It also houses an international broadcast center, voicing rooms, and podcast booths to support media coverage.
Beyond its facilities, the center showcases Philippine culture and tourism through various attractions and services.
These include traditional hilot massage services, an LED wall featuring tourist destinations across the country, and a booth offering free tours to popular Manila attractions such as Intramuros and Fort Santiago.
Journalists and other visitors can also sample Filipino cuisine at the dining area, which features an ASEAN sari-sari store and food booths showcasing dishes from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The media center is considerably larger than the facility set up in Cebu for the ASEAN leaders’ meeting last May.
Meanwhile, authorities are implementing heightened security and traffic management measures around key summit venues.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is enforcing stop-and-go traffic schemes along roads near the Philippine International Convention Center, where the summit’s main activities will be held.
Motorists are advised to take alternative routes to avoid congestion caused by summit-related road closures and restrictions.
MMDA Manila Traffic Enforcement Group Director Atty. Vic Nunez said traffic would only be temporarily stopped when heads of state pass through in their convoys.
The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, is set to deploy nearly 20,000 personnel to secure summit venues, hotels, billeting areas, and routes that will be used by foreign delegates.
Aside from leaders of Southeast Asian nations, other world leaders expected to attend include U.S. President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
While the Philippine International Convention Center will serve as the summit’s main venue, access will be limited to authorized journalists.
Several issues are expected to dominate discussions, including artificial intelligence, responses to challenges posed by the Middle East crisis, and the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. – ANC, The World Tonight, November 11, 2026