PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. raised anew the urgent need for the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to speed up the finalization of the long-delayed Asean-China Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea where the Philippines continued to be subjected to harassment and intimidation.
Speaking at the 44th and 45th Asean Summit and Related Summits in Laos on Thursday, October 10, 2024, Marcos pushed for the establishment of a legally binding agreement to address the escalating tensions and repeated incidents of aggression by China in the contested waters.
He said despite a positive development with China, “it is regrettable that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains tense and unchanged.”
“In our view, there should be more urgency in the pace of the negotiations of the Asean-China Code of Conduct (COC),” Marcos said in his intervention during the 27th Asean-China Summit in Laos.
The President also emphasized that “core elements of the COC, such as the milestone issues of geographic scope, the relationship between the COC and DOC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea), and its legal nature to this day remain outstanding.”
He also stood firm that “the definition of a concept as basic as “self-restraint does not yet enjoy consensus.”
“It is time that we tackle these milestone issues directly so we can make substantive progress moving forward,” Marcos added.
In June, a Philippine Navy personnel lost a thumb due to the harassment of a China Coast Guard Vessel in the bid to prevent a Philippine vessel from conducting a routine rotation and resupply (Rore) mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
In the said incident, the Philippine military authorities said the Chinese personnel acted “like pirates,” noting that aside from intentionally hitting the Philippine boats, they also forcibly inspected it, destroyed its communication system and took the Filipino firearms.
This was followed by several more harassment perpetrated by China, which resulted in significant damage to Philippine vessels, particularly in Escoda Shoal.
Marcos also shared an incident where civilian fisheries vessels and aircraft were targeted by lasers and subjected to intimidation by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) missile ships of China.
He said China’s continued aggression and intimidation “demonstrates the continued disregard of international law and standards, particularly Unclos and the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (Colregs).”
“Such behavior is not unnoticed by our respective publics and the international community as well. That they will require a concerted and urgent effort to adopt measures to prevent their recurrence,” Marcos said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)