Warning that escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) “could lead to conflict,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario urged China at a foreign policy forum in Tokyo to act responsibly instead of resorting to aggression in the wake of its its rapid rise as an economic and military power in the Asia-Pacific.
The Philippines is considering the pullout of its 300 peacekeepers from the Golan Heights because of security concerns, following the abduction of four Filipino troops by Syrian rebels, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Friday.
The Philippine Navy on Friday denied allegations that its forces had shot dead a crewman of a Taiwan fishing vessel, saying none of its ships were in the area at the time of the apparent incident.
Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Friday he wanted all Filipino peacekeepers pulled out of the Golan Heights as soon as possible, following the abduction of four troops.
The Aquino administration on Saturday said it sought United Nations arbitration as a “last resort” because China had refused to withdraw its ships from Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), which the country insists is within Philippine territory.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Friday reminded the country’s diplomats that cajoling Filipinos abroad to contribute money, even for a good cause, is improper.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has appealed to more than a thousand undocumented Filipinos camping outside the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah to cooperate by moving out of their tents and transferring to the facilities prepared for them by Philippine officials there.
In agreeing to engage China in negotiations for a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is sending a clear message to Beijing: It’s time to view the territorial disputes in the sea as a regional problem and they must be solved through regional, not bilateral, action.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Saturday the greater presence of American troops in the country should be welcomed as it was allowed under the longstanding mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States.
The Philippines reiterated, on Thursday, its commitment to the peaceful settlement of its claims in the West Philippine Sea or the South China Sea area through arbitration proceedings under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.
Seeing no imminent outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Saturday postponed a trip to Seoul as foreign diplomats in Pyongyang huddled to discuss a North Korean evacuation advisory that had sparked fears the isolated state was preparing to launch attacks on the South and the United States.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has criticized China for allegedly undermining the rule of law.
