DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario (center). INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is thinking of going to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) before the end of 2014 to call for an immediate freeze on activities in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) to ease tensions.
“We ought to consider getting together and freezing all activities that escalate tension. Let’s call for a moratorium in terms of activities that escalate tension,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel Monday morning.
“Let’s do that while we work on an expeditious conclusion of the Code of Conduct and effective and full implementation of those. I would like to initiate it and I think it’s a reasonable approach,” he said.
In the past months, China has been involved in confrontations with Vietnamese ships that are trying to stop a Chinese oil rig deployed near the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands) which is claimed by both countries.
Philippines has also protested the reclamation projects of China on several reefs in the Spratly Group of Islands that are within the Philippines’ 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“We would use the international community to step up and to say that we need to manage the tensions in the South China Sea before it gets out of hand. We would do this with Asean and the (other) claimant states,” he said.
“Within the year, we hope to be able to put forth this proposition, it’s a reasonable proposition, we need to do something quickly. Asean countries (should) stand together because the international community has a stake in this because freedom of navigation, freedom of overflight these are all very important to the entire international community,” he said.
A consensus among the member states on when the ministerial meeting can be held has to be reached first, but del Rosario said he hopes it will be within the year.
Philippines has a pending arbitration case against China over its nine-dash line claim that covers nearly the entire South China Sea including parts of the Philippines’ 200 nautical-mile EEZ.
China has refused to participate in the proceedings citing its “indisputable sovereignty” in the region.
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