THE Philippines will try to conclude the talks on the draft Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea as it takes the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which coincides with the group’s 50th anniversary this year, the Foreign Affairs department said Thursday.
“One of our main goals this year in cooperation with China is to try and arrive at a framework for the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea by the end of the year. That will be one of our priorities,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo told reporters.
He made his statement even as Rep. Harry Roque said the potential joint exploration of the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines and China would be legal and constitutional.
He said the idea of coming to mutual agreements over natural resources was allowed by the 1987 Constitution.
Asean’s 10 members and China agreed in 2002 on a Declaration of Conduct as several countries claim parts of the South China Sea. It was supposed to result in a COC that would effectively manage the tensions in the disputed area.
But the COC has been stalled after failing to get a consensus among the dAsean nations, four of which claim parts of the South China Sea: Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
China has refused to acknowledge the results of an arbitral tribunal’s decision invalidating its nine-dash line claims in the disputed waters.
Manalo said the Philippines’ work as Asean chairman will be consistent with the environment.
“The whole purpose of the Code of Conduct is to try and see how these disputes can be managed in a peaceful way and in a non-confrontational way,” Manalo said.
On Thursday, the Palace announced that the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Asean would kick off on Jan. 15 in Duterte’s hometown Davao City.
“On January 15, all eyes will be in Davao City as we welcome our brothers and sisters in the Asean community,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.
“We will officially launch Asean 2017 at the Davao SMX Convention Center, and PCOO has partnered with different government agencies led by the Department of Tourism to create a memorable event that will set the tone for this important year-long commitment.”
Sources earlier told the Manila Standard that the Philippines was eying the adoption of the “Manila Declaration to Combat the Rise of Radicalization and Violent Extremism.”