Manila, March 27 -- Malacanang on Friday announced the virtual conduct of all preparatory meetings for the 48th and 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits.

This developed following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to recalibrate the Philippines' hosting of ASEAN 2026, scaling down non-essential bloc activities "in order to save on expenses and focus on the most important," Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said.

In a statement, Recto said the 650 ministerial and senior official meetings that the Philippines was supposed to host would instead be conducted online.

Recto, also acting as ASEAN 2026 National Organizing Council (NOC) chairperson, said the country remains optimistic about "su...