MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippines is doing its best to bring China back to the negotiating table amid ongoing tension in the West Philippine Sea.
According to Secretary Enrique Manalo, the DFA maintains that the “primacy of dialogue and diplomacy should prevail even in the face of these serious incidents”, even though he admitted that “it’s also a challenge.”
“We will pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international laws, specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award. And we have been working hard to bring back China to the table to talk with us to resolve differences on these issues,” Manalo said over at the Senate on Tuesday.
“We had a working group meeting last week in preparation for what we hope will be a meeting of the BCM, the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism. We hope it to be held in early July with our Chinese counterparts, specifically to discuss the recent incidents,” he added.
“Also to see whether we can arrive at some understandings which could help…I mean some kinds of confidence-building measures which could hopefully create a basis for more serious discussions to see how we can address these other issues,” the DFA official further said.
While the DFA wants to diplomatically address these recent incidents, Manalo assured that they will uphold the protection of national sovereignty in these talks with China.
“We will continue to pursue these efforts and also, let me just assure the committee and the Filipino people that while we are seeking the approach for a peaceful resolution through international law and diplomacy, of course, we are not blind to the incidents which are happening,” he said.
“We will ensure that whatever confidence building measures we achieve, they will be not at the expense of the promotion of our sovereignty, sovereign rights as well as our rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
Seven Filipino troops were hurt, including one who lost his thumb, when Chinese Coast Guard personnel interfered in a Philippine resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on June 17.
Executive secretary Lucas Bersamin previously said the incident in Ayungin Shoal was not an armed attack, but Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. countered that it is a deliberate act of the Chinese officialdom to prevent the resupply mission./PN
