PH to raise reclamation issue in Asean summit

Collective statement

Cruz said the Philippines would always aim for a collective statement from Asean, although the summit is not a “negotiation among the leaders.”

“They will be there to express their views, not only on the South China Sea, but what they think are the security issues in the region and internationally,” Cruz said.

President Aquino has consistently raised the Philippines’ concerns over China’s violations of the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea at Asean summits.

The declaration is an agreement between China and the Asean members to keep the status quo until the maritime disputes are settled.

At an Asean summit in 2012, Aquino disputed the claim of then Asean summit host Cambodia that the regional bloc had agreed not to discuss the South China Sea disputes at international forums.

Aquino said there was no such agreement and that as a sovereign state, the Philippines could seek ways other than the Asean route to defend its national interests.

The President has also said that China’s land reclamation activities have made it “imperative” to push for a binding code of conduct among the claimant states.

While both the Asean, as a regional group, and China have been seen as dragging their feet on the proposed code of conduct, discussions on the document are going on.

“At this point, I think the level of discussion of that joint working group is to identify the elements that can easily be achieved or agreed upon, or what they call the ‘low-hanging fruits.’ An example would be the… activities on search-and-rescue operation,” Cruz said.

President Aquino will be in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi on April 27 and 28 to attend six meetings, including the 26th Asean Summit Retreat and the 11th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Areas (BIMP-EAGA) Summit.

Asean community

Cruz said the Asean as an integrated community would also be launched at the summit next week.

“Let me make it clear at this point that (Asean Integration 2015) is not the end-all and be-all of Asean community building exercise. Let us refer to it as a milestone or a reference point,” Cruz said.

He said an Asean high-level task force was already drafting the post-2015 plan for the Asean community.

“For the next 10 years, this high-level task force is already identifying the next set of plans essentially to deepen integration of Asean,” Cruz said.

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