MANILA, July 24 — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said the country’s improved relations with China have given the Philippines a better leverage over the negotiation on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), one of the issues that will be tackled soon.
“The West Philippine Sea issue and federalism are matters that we have to be tackled sooner,” the President said in his second State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) delivered at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday.
President Duterte noted that Philippine bilateral dialogues with China and other mechanisms also led to easing of tensions between the two countries over the West Philippine Sea.
Apart from China and the Philippines, other countries that have made competing claims over parts or all of the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea were Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
ASEAN members and China completed the framework on the code of conduct for managing the dispute in the South China Sea on May 19 this year in Guiyang, Guizhou Province in Southwest China.
The completed COC framework was expected to be submitted to the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and China during their meeting in Manila in August for their consideration
On July 12 last year, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China’s “nine-dash line” entitlement over the entire West Philippine Sea because it overlapped with the Philippine 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).”
The Duterte administration opted to resolve the territorial disputes amicably, as it reaffirmed its commitment to protect the country’s territorial claims and maritime entitlements. (Leslie D. Venzon/PNA)#DUTERTESONA2017