President Aquino clarifies West Philippine Sea issue during ASEAN-Japan Summit

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 19): President Aquino clarifies West Philippine Sea issue during ASEAN-Japan Summit

President Benigno S. Aquino III made it clear on Monday that resolving the West Philippine Sea issue doesn’t rely solely in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) route but also with other venues. In a media briefing at the Landscape Hotel here, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said that the President made a significant intervention when Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was making his concluding statement during the ASEAN-Japan Summit Monday morning. “There were several views expressed yesterday on ASEAN unity which we did not realize would be translated into an ASEAN consensus. For the record, this was not our understanding. The ASEAN route is not the only route for us. As a sovereign state, it is our right to defend our national interests,” Coloma quoted the President as saying. The President raised the issue, Coloma stressed, because if the adherence to international law or the UN is omitted and member countries simply refer to ASEAN-China discussions, it would change the whole context. The chair, Prime Minister Hun Sen, duly acknowledged the President’s statement, saying the intervention will be reflected in the record of the meeting. “We must realize that this is a forum where the countries around the table are sovereign states. It’s not just the individual heads of state or heads of government that are representing themselves. They are representing their countries,” Coloma said. He explained that the President represents the state and the government, which is governed by a Constitution, adding that under the Constitution, the President must assert the country’s sovereignty. “Even as we observed ASEAN centrality, this is an issue that involves the stake of each of the member states of ASEAN concerned that have claims on the disputed territory and that we are affirming our belief that this matter should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said. ASEAN leaders acknowledged the need to craft a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea starting from the existing Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea agreed upon 10 years ago.

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