PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday, November 14, that he is determined to push for the completion of the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea during the meeting between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China in Singapore.
"I will focus on the COC. Everything has been excellent between China and the rest of Asean, except for the fact that there’s a friction between the western nations and China," the President said in a chance interview with reporters in Singapore.
Duterte's remarks came as China still refused to acknowledge the July 12, 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands, invalidating Beijing's sweeping claims to the South China Sea.
The Philippines presently serves as the coordinator of Asean-China dialogue relations until 2021.
Duterte admitted that he was "worried" about the supposed strife between China and Western nations, especially the United States (US), which had a Mutual Defense treaty with the Philippines.
In 1951, the Philippines entered into a mutual defense pact with the US.
The President noted that the mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and Manila had not been abrogated.
"I am worried and I expressed it last night because we have a defense treaty, mutual defense treaty with the US," he said. "It's not abrogated. It’s there. And even... I don't know if it's the decision of the President., Congress, or the Armed Forces of the Philippines."
Duterte also raised worry over the "serious miscalculation" in the contested waters.
Given his apprehensions, the Chief Executive said he wanted to particularly ask China for its plans to resolve the sea disputes.
"You know because of the treaty, I‘d like to China, 'That is why at all cost we must have the COC. So you’re there, you’re in possession, you occupied it. Then tell us what route shall we take and what kind of behavior," he said.
China has laid claim to nearly 90 percent of the disputed South China Sea, despite competing claims with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines' petition against China, stating that Beijing's sweeping maritime claim has no legal basis. (SunStar Philippines)