A Mindanao lawmaker on Saturday called on ASEAN member-states and China to support the completion of the Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea by 2026, when the Philippines hosts the next ASEAN Summit.
“I call on all the leaders of these nations to support the finalization of the draft code. I urge all their ambassadors to convince their respective governments to finalize and sign the document next year in Manila,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said it is in the best interest of China and ASEAN members to sign the code, which will serve as a framework for peaceful coexistence, particularly among countries with overlapping territorial claims such as China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Brunei. He stressed that the code’s completion largely depends on China, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea.
“Beijing should play big brother to its ASEAN neighbors. It’s the only way to have this code of conduct in place by next year,” Rodriguez said.
During the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he remains optimistic that the COC can be finalized and signed in Manila in 2026. “We cannot stop. We must continue and continue until we find the solution,” Marcos said.
China and ASEAN began negotiations on the COC in 2018. In April, then–Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said both sides were committed to completing the document by 2026 despite lingering issues such as the code’s scope and alignment with the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
