{"id":236465,"date":"2019-11-03T19:51:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T00:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=236465"},"modified":"2019-11-03T19:51:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T00:51:27","slug":"duterte-asean-leaders-vow-to-fight-common-enemies-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/11\/03\/duterte-asean-leaders-vow-to-fight-common-enemies-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte, Asean leaders vow to fight \u2018common enemies\u2019: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Presidential Chief Legal Counsel and Spokesperson Salvador Panelo holds a press conference for the Malaca\u00f1ang Press Corps (MPC) at the Impact Challenger in Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 3, 2019. AVITO DALAN\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte and his fellow Southeast Asian leaders have agreed to address \u201ccommon enemies\u201d affecting their region, which include terrorism, ongoing trade war, and South China Sea disputes, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of them wanted to unite against common enemies. And they are all in one to cooperate in the same concern,\u201d Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a press conference in Nonthaburi, Thailand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe common enemy of course is terrorism, and then the problem in the South China Sea. And with respect to the fear of the trade war, instead of getting better, I think it\u2019s getting worse. All of them are saying that they have to do something about it. And they are united,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders have been implementing measures to combat transnational crimes, including terrorism.<\/p>\n

To deter terror acts, the 10-man Asean adopted a Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism on November 5, 2011 in Brunei Darussalam.<\/p>\n

With respect to trade-related tensions, Duterte appealed to his fellow Southeast Asian leaders during the plenary session of the 35th Asean summit to push for a strengthened economic integration.<\/p>\n

The President made the call, as he expressed alarm over protectionism and ongoing trade war between major economic powers that pull down economic growth among Asean member-states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need an open and rules-based trading system to sustain growth. Thus, we should ensure the continued relevance and effectiveness of the World Trade Organization,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Asean must accelerate deeper economic integration through concrete programs and projects, such as RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The punishing trade war between the United States and China, which has an impact on Asean economies, compelled the Southeast Asian leaders to fast-track negotiations on the RCEP, a proposed free trade pact among the 10-man regional bloc and its six free trade agreement (FTA) partners,<\/p>\n

Apart from the Philippines, other member-states of Asean include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Meantime, Asean\u2019s FTA partners are China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Duterte acknowledged during the 22nd Asean-China Summit that Beijing is Asean\u2019s largest trading partner, third largest external source of foreign direct investment, and an important source of tourists.<\/p>\n

He also stressed that Asean and China shared a common interest in preserving and protecting free trade and upholding rules-based multilateral trading system embodied in the World Trade Organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome China\u2019s continued support for Asean\u2019s effort to narrow the development gap among Asean member-states,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should continue to strengthen trade, investment, and tourism flows between Asean and China through the full and effective implementation of the Asean-China Free Trade Area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Asean member-states and China have agreed that South China Sea claimants must observe \u201crules-based\u201d approach to avoid tensions in the busy waterway, Panelo said.<\/p>\n

The Palace official added that sea disputes should be resolved peacefully, in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President has been saying all along, that every country must be rules-based. Meaning, we will have to respect international law, we will have to respect the UNCLOS,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot be forcing others to succumb to another countries\u2019 power. In other words, we should be treating each other equally and fairly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Philippines won its petition against China’s extensive claims to most parts of the South China Sea before the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016, but Duterte refused to bring up the arbitral ruling during the Asean summit, Panelo said.<\/p>\n

In a bid to cool tensions in the South China Sea, Panelo reiterated the President\u2019s stance that the Philippines would avoid being a \u201cpawn\u201d of any countries, including the United States (US) which takes a stand against Beijing\u2019s sweeping claims to the disputed sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I do not know exactly what the US wants in this part of the region. While it\u2019s trying to contain the movement on China with respect to navigation, I cannot even understand, like the President said, when they were starting to build structures there, they did not stop China and it is only now that they are doing it but it\u2019s too late,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every country would want to have a peaceful and stabilized region for obvious reason. It\u2019s for everybody\u2019s interests,\u201d Panelo added.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump missed the opportunity to tackle pressing issues with Southeast Asian leaders after he skipped the 35th Asean Summit and Related Summits in Thailand on Nov. 2 to 4, but Panelo believed that the American leader\u2019s absence \u201cdoes not mean that he is not concerned with what is happening in this region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we all know for the fact that Mr. Trump is trying to survive there. There is an impeachment going on, process. So maybe that\u2019s the reason why he did not come,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte and his fellow Southeast Asian leaders have agreed to address \u201ccommon enemies\u201d affecting their region, which …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":236466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236467,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236465\/revisions\/236467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}