MANILA: The Philippines' top diplomat led a humanitarian mission to Myanmar this week as part of an initiative to reach 11,000 remote households in the conflict-torn country. Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro was visiting in her capacity as Myanmar special envoy for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is chaired by the Philippines this year. Myanmar is one of the bloc’s 11 member states, but has been rebuked since its army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, plunging the country into a civil war that has displaced millions. The ASEAN Monitoring Team Mission was in Myanmar until Thursday, visiting Kayin State, Southern Shan State and Northern Shan State. “The Mission distributed bags of rice, family kits and personal hygiene kits to internally displaced persons,” Lazaro wrote on X. “The mission also marked the start of a month-long humanitarian operation that will reach more than 11,000 households in Kayin and northern Shan States, focusing on communities in areas not previously reached by the AHA Centre.” The center, which coordinates ASEAN’s humanitarian operations, will work with the Myanmar Red Cross Society to distribute 50-kilogram bags of rice and other essential items to affected communities through November, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Lazaro was also expected to lead a symbolic handover of a religious building during her visit and deliver learning kits to schools affected by an earthquake last year in central Myanmar. It was not immediately clear if Lazaro would have meetings with top Myanmar officials. However, the delegation was welcomed by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Naing Min Kyaw when the mission team arrived in Naypyitaw on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the Myanmar Foreign Affairs Ministry. The trip precedes an ASEAN leaders’ summit in Manila next month and as the bloc presses for progress on its 2021 Five-Point Consensus, which calls for Myanmar to end the ongoing violence, conduct an inclusive national dialogue and allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance without discrimination. Over 4.1 million people were displaced inside Myanmar as of October, up from around 671,000 in 2021, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency. Lazaro made her first visit to Myanmar as special envoy in January, when she met Min Aung Hlaing, a former military chief inaugurated as president in April. During that early 2026 meeting, they discussed the country's political situation and the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. This week’s humanitarian mission is part of “a continuation of effort” following Lazaro’s earlier engagements, which also comes as some ASEAN states have become “more flexible” in their approach toward Myanmar, according to Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and member of De La Salle University’s international studies department in Manila. He cited Malaysia as an example, following Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Kuala Lumpur last month. “I believe that the idea now is to have more limited engagements, rather than completely ignoring or blocking off Myanmar … to bring or to get the most out of the negotiations and talks,” Gill told Arab News. “However, it is yet to be seen if this would result in anything substantial as far as Myanmar’s change of heart.”