Marcos Jr. to push for completion of SCS code

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — A binding Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea is something President Marcos said he intends to push with fellow leaders in the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) to ease tensions and avoid potential miscalculations in the contested waters with China.

“When we talk about the issues on the West Philippine Sea (and) South China Sea, that will not calm down until we have a Code of Conduct,” Marcos stressed in an interview with reporters on the eve of yesterday’s opening of the 42nd ASEAN Summit here.

The President said he plans to discuss the finalization of the COC and resolve the bottleneck issues that are obstructing negotiations.The 10-member regional bloc and China have been negotiating for a COC in the past years to manage tensions amid competing claims in the South China Sea.

In Marcos’ view, what complicates things are the separate bilateral negotiations between ASEAN member-states and China, so these have to be resolved.

“What we need to do is look at what is exactly the problem. This is what we have to discuss amongst ourselves. What is the bottleneck? Where are we having a hard time? How can we fix that problem?” he said.

“That’s what these meetings should be for and I think we’ll get to that point because everybody wants this to work, everybody wants to have a Code of Conduct. So what’s getting in the way, let’s talk about it,” he added.?A legally binding COC is seen to replace the non-binding Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in 2002.

During the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia last year, Marcos pushed for the early conclusion of a COC in the South China Sea based on international law, which he said should be an example of how states manage their differences.

Meanwhile, Marcos stressed the importance of continuing discussions with China about fishing rights in the West Philippine Sea, but without imposing deadlines to avoid making the situation worse.

Earlier, he had directed the Philippine Coast Guard and the Department of Foreign Affairs “to put together perhaps a map of these fishing grounds” within the Philippines’ territory, following a near-collision incident between a Chinese ship and a Philippine vessel in the disputed waters last month.

The President said China has “agreed again to sit down” to discuss the matter. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and China have overlapping claims over the South China Sea, which is believed to hold large reserves of oil and natural gas.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration affirmed the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea and nullified China’s claims over almost the entire South China Sea. Beijing, however, continues to ignore the arbitral award.

Maritime security, economic growth

Back home, Defense Senior Undersecretary Secretary and officer-in-charge Carlito Galvez Jr. stressed last Tuesday that boosting maritime security is key to achieving sustained economic growth for the country.

Speaking at the 2023 Maritime Security Symposium in Taguig City, Galvez emphasized that maritime security in the Southeast Asian region is not only the responsibility of the international community but also essential for the actual benefit of the people.

“Let us make this event a perfect opportunity to revisit our way of doing things and come up with innovative and respectable approaches to asserting ASEAN Centrality amidst emerging threats to maritime security,” Galvez said.

The symposium, hosted by the Philippine Navy through its Office of Naval Strategic Studies and Strategy Management, highlighted the importance of ASEAN Centrality through cooperation amid geopolitical challenges.

Two panels featured prominent speakers who discussed current security challenges in the Southeast Asian region and highlighted the importance of the ASEAN perspective amid the increasing involvement of extra-regional players in the area.

For his part, Philippine Navy chief Rear Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. urged participants to collaborate in promoting ASEAN’s perspective on issues of regional and global importance, leveraging the regional bloc’s strengths to advance shared goals.