He may not have had the chance to meet with Chinese counterpart Hu
Jintao at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in
Russia, but President Benigno Aquino III gained the support of two more
Southeast Asian neighbors in pushing for a peaceful solution to the West
Philippine Sea row.
Department of Foreign Affairs
Secretary Albert del Rosario said Sunday Aquino received support for the
Philippines’ stance from Malaysia and Vietnam, during bilateral meetings with
their leaders.
Aquino is expected to arrive home
from Vladivostok in Russia, where he attended the APEC leaders’ summit, at 6:15
p.m., Malacañang said Sunday noon.
“[On] the West Philippine Sea, we
are, of course, we’re both on board. Both countries are on board in terms of
the six principles that was agreed with ASEAN [the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations] and so we are anxious to see how that can be moved forward. Both
leaders had expressed the need to be able to adopt a common position in ASEAN
in terms of the challenges in the West Philippine Sea. And we are also together
in terms of support for the forward movement of the code of conduct,” del
Rosario said at a media briefing, referring to Aquino’s bilateral meeting with
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul
Razak.
He said Aquino and Vietnamese
President Truong Tan Sang also pushed close cooperation in “dealing with the
challenge that faced both of us.”
“Vietnam has been a partner of
the Philippines in terms of a cooperation to see how we both can address the
challenge and be able to also work with other countries within ASEAN and also
our other dialogue partners in terms of being able to move forward the
objectives which we had closely defined as a peaceful resolution to the dispute
in accordance with international law,” he said.
Aquino held talks with the
Malaysian and Vietnamese leaders Sunday. On Saturday, he held talks with
Chilean president Sebastian Piñera and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong.
The Philippines, Malaysia and
Vietnam are all claimants to the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea
(South China Sea).
But the Philippines and China
have also been locked in a territorial dispute since April over the Panatag
(Scarborough) Shoal.
The Philippine and Chinese sides
had tried to work out a meeting between Aquino and Hu at the sidelines of the
APEC summit but scheduling conflicts prevented the meeting from pushing
through.
On Saturday, del Rosario said
Aquino thanked Lee for Singapore's support for the Philippines’ position on the
West Philippine Sea.
“The president expressed his
gratitude for the very strong support Singapore has given the Philippines in
terms of its position in the West Philippine Sea. Singapore committed to
continue its support in terms of a peaceful resolution of the dispute in
accordance with international law including the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea,” he said.
He said the two leaders also
expressed the need for the ASEAN to “strengthen its solidarity and centrality
in being able to reinforce the importance of ASEAN being an entity that would
promote peace and stability in the region.”
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