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ASEAN pushes sea code

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Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations want to finish a binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea within three years or earlier.

READ: Duterte urges ASEAN leaders: Don’t take sides

This was the sentiment expressed in the ASEAN common statement ready by President Rodrigo Duterte at the 22nd ASEAN-China Summit held in Thailand on Nov. 3.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the 10-member regional bloc greeted China on its 70th anniversary and said ASEAN and China should improve further discussions on political security through regular high-level meetings and coordination.

The President also reaffirmed ASEAN’s commitment to maintain and promote peace, security, stability and safety in the South China Sea, he said.

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In particular, Duterte reaffirmed the regional bloc’s shared hope to conclude an effective and substantive Code of Conduct within three years.

He also reiterated his suggestion that ASEAN members exercise self-restraint despite territorial disputes over the South China Sea—even as he spoke out against reclamation and militarization in the disputed waters.

Aside from the Philippines, other claimants to some parts of the South China Sea are Brunei Darussalam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam while China claims virtually all of the South China Sea as part of its territory.

The Philippines is claiming three islands in the disputed sea—Mischief Reef, Second Thomas Shoal and Reed Bank, which are part of the country’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Mischief Reef is also known as Panganiban Reef in the Philippines, Second Thomas Shoal is known as Ayungin Shoal and Reed Bank as Recto Bank.

In 2016, the Philippines won the arbitral case on the territorial dispute against China after the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal favored the Philippines.

The decision stated that the three islands “are submerged at high tide, form part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines, and are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.”

China, however, has refused to recognize the court or its decision.

READ: Duterte ASEAN-bound; Ex-DFA chief pushes sea code

Meanwhile, Duterte said the region “is also anticipating the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN-China Trade Area since the world’s second largest economy is the regional bloc’s largest trading partner, third largest external source foreign direct investments and an important source of tourists.”

The Palace on Sunday shrugged off China’s move to block a Liberian-flagged ship manned by a Filipino captain in Panatag Shoal, saying it does not concern the country.

Panelo said the alleged blocking of the Greek-owned oil tanker M/T Green Aura was not an affront to the country’s sovereignty, even if Panatag Shoal lies about 120 miles west of Subic Bay and is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“In a way, it’s not our concern, because it’s not a Philippine vessel,” Panelo said on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

“Well, for as long as they do not touch the Philippine ship or vessel, it would be the concern of that country that carries the flag of that particular vessel,” he added.

Although the Chinese vessel insisted that Panatag Shoal is within Chinese territory, Panelo maintained that the Philippines has nothing to do with the incident.

Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal slammed Panelo for his remarks, saying the Palace official should refrain from speaking about foreign policy matters.

Batongbacal, who also serves as director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said the government should take action on the incident because the country “relies on foreign-flagged vessels for international trade” and China’s actions undermine the maritime interests of the Philippines.

“This is just so wrong on several levels. When will someone stop Panelo from speaking out of turn on matters of foreign policy?” he asked in a Twitter post Monday.

He also said the Philippines should not stay silent in the face of China’s assertion of jurisdiction over Panatag Shoal, which was considered a traditional fishing ground in the 2016 arbitral ruling.

“Silence on China’s assertion of ‘jurisdiction’ against a Greek vessel, a third party, is effectively a sign of acquiescence to such jurisdiction before such third party; and in this case, due to publicity, effectively before the whole world,” he said.

In response, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said getting involved in the incident would harm the livelihood of Filipino mariners.

READ: ASEAN hopeful on trade deal

“We stick our noses in and 400,000 Filipino mariners get embroiled in a maritime issue about which our only interest is the safety of the parts of the crew who just happen to be Filipino and were not harmed,” he said.

“Want the employment 400,000 Pinoy mariners to hang in the balance of the games an idiot native media likes to play? Now that’s harming their livelihoods,” he added.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the incident should not be “blown out of proportion or sensationalized,” as M/T Green Aura was able to pass through the area despite the encounter with a Chinese vessel.

Lorenzana said that an official report on the alleged blocking of M/T Green Aura has been forwarded to the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea.

The M/T Green Aura was shooed away last Sept. 30 by a Chinese vessel which identified itself as a “Chinese Navy warship.”

The ship’s captain, Manolo Ebora, insisted that he can pass through the area, citing the right to innocent passage, but the “Chinese Navy” insisted that they change course.

Two Chinese ships crisscrossed the oil tanker, while another temporarily blocked its way.

Ebora, however, ignored the order and eventually got through the Chinese ships.

Panelo said the incident would not affect the continuing negotiations on the creation of a Code of Conduct between the ASEAN-member states and China.

READ: Duterte, other leaders skip summit with US; Trump no-show

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