PH raises WPS issue in Asean senior officials’ meet

MANILA – Acting Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations Elizabeth Buensuceso underscored the Philippines’ commitment towards progress in the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea negotiations between Asean Member States and China.

Buensuceso, also Asean Affairs and Philippine Asean SOM (Senior Officials’ Meeting) Leader, urged all parties to adhere to the rule of law and exercise self-restraint during the Asean held via videoconference on April 7.

The Philippines is the current country coordinator for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Dialogue Relations.

“The continued deployment and lingering presence of a large swarm of maritime militia vessels within the Philippines’ maritime zones remains a serious concern and we reiterate that a conducive environment is crucial for the COC negotiations,” Buensuceso said in a news release on Saturday.

She also emphasized that actions that intimidate, escalate tensions, and undermine mutual trust and confidence, violate the sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially those that run counter to international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) impede the progress and momentum of the COC negotiations and threaten its success.

Buensuceso also called on Asean, composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, to raise its collective voice to push for equitable access to vaccines, especially in consideration of developing countries.

She stressed that the procurement of vaccines under the Covid-19 Asean Response Fund (CARF) is highly commendable under the current circumstances given its urgency.

However, Asean should expedite its collective vaccine procurement so as not to lag behind in efforts to achieve herd immunity in the region and to address reports of global shortage of vaccines.

The meeting also discussed a wide range of issues and concerns, including updates on Brunei Darussalam’s chairmanship deliverables, Asean’s Covid-19 response, Asean Community Post-2025 Vision, review of the implementation of the Asean Charter, sub-regional cooperation, cross-pillar coordination, external relations, and Asean candidatures. (PR)