MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept.
8, 2012) - The Philippines on Saturday
praised Singapore for its support to Manila's claim of scattered islands in the
South China Sea.
The Philippine News Agency
reported that President Benigno Aquino expressed his gratitude to Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong who met during a bilateral meeting of the 20th APEC
Leaders’ Meeting in Vladivostok, Russia.
“Singapore has committed to
continue its support in terms of a peaceful resolution of the disputes in
accordance with international law, including UNCLOS. And they also expressed
the need for 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,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told
journalists in Russia.
Del Rosario also said the
President and his counterpart also talked about the current global economic
challenges.
Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the
Philippines, all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have
overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea, but China claims sovereignty over
almost its entirety.
In June, the Philippines had a
standoff with China over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc.
ASEAN foreign ministers failed to
move ahead on the West Philippine Sea issue at a regional ministers’ meeting in
Cambodia in July, preventing the regional block from producing a joint
communiqué for the first time in its 45-year history.
The Philippines said one of its
options is to bring the issue to an international body to settle the dispute
but China continues to oppose such proposition.
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