PH, Vietnam resume joint research work in South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to resume joint marine scientific research expedition (JOMSRE) in the South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday (Nov. 18).
This was agreed upon by the two countries during the 9th Philippines-Vietnam Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns (JPWG-MOC) last Nov. 8.
No additional details were given about the resumption of JOMSRE, which has been suspended since 2007.
The Philippines and Vietnam share mutual concerns in the South China Sea, where they are both claimants, along with China, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Maritime law expert Dr. Jay Batongbacal said the revival of JOMSRE was important because it displays closer cooperation and coordination between the two countries on matters of common interest.
“It is an example of how two claimants can still work together on broader and more important oceans issues in spite of their competing claims to island territories,” he told Inquirer.net.
China, which was part of the JOMSRE before it was suspended, would “probably demand to be part of it again,” he said.
The JOMSRE was initiated by the Philippines and Vietnam in 1994 as a confidence building activity in the South China Sea. Four JOMSRE activities, which covered the southern part of the South China Sea, were completed between 1994 to 2007.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Angela Ponce, of the DFA Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office, led the Philippine delegation for the JPWG-MOC while Vietnam was led by National Boundary Committee vice chair Nguyễn Mạnh Đông.
They discussed various initiatives for science-based cooperation particularly on marine scientific research, marine environment protection, and hydrometeorology in the 9th JPWG-MOC.
