By Darryl John Esguerra | Philippine News Agency
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. raised the South China Sea dispute during his intervention at the 45th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Laos and emphasized the Philippines’ fidelity to rule of law and international rules-based order.
In a news release Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos highlighted the Philippines’ adherence to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award in its efforts to address and manage disputes and tensions with China.
“I didn’t specify the details but it is just the general principle of the adherence to the rule of law and the UNCLOS. Just as a general theme,” Marcos told reporters when asked if he brought up the South China Sea issue during the ASEAN retreat session.
“We will have a chance to get into more detail maybe in the next couple of days,” he added.
China and the Philippines are among the claimants of features in the vast and resource-rich South China Sea which Beijing claims entirely, including features that are well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled to dismiss China’s sweeping historical claims to the waterway, but Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling and continue its militarization and aggression in the disputed waters.
Marcos is currently in the Laotian capital city of Vientiane for the ASEAN Summits.
