In Manila, Brunei's Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Mateen used the convergence of three major ASEAN forums to articulate a truth that has grown harder to ignore: the fractures in global supply chains for food and energy are too vast for any single nation to mend alone. Drawing on the quiet success of ASEAN's emergency rice reserve, he proposed extending that logic to energy — a regional architecture of shared reserves, transparent information, and collective response. The adoption of the Manila Plan of Action, a ten-year roadmap through 2036, suggests the region is at least willing to keep the