(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte is set to fly to Thailand this week to attend the 34th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit where he would join other ASEAN leaders in discussing important regional issues.
Duterte is expected to push the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea during the ASEAN Summit in Thailand with the Philippines being the ASEAN-China dialogue coordinator, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
This is important in light of the recent Recto Bank incident where a Chinese boat hit a Philippine fishing vessel which at the time was at a stationary position.
The President’s schedule will be “very hectic” when he attends the summit chaired by Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, on June 22 and 23, according to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary and Director General of ASEAN-Philippine National Secretariat Junever Mahilum-West.
“At the plenary session on June 22, the leaders will discuss ASEAN community building under the theme ‘Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.’ Also, there will be a Leaders’ Retreat, during which they will exchange views on ASEAN’s external relations and the way forward, as well as significant regional and international issues,” she told reporters in a pre-departure briefing in Malacanang.
A couple of bilateral meetings are still being arranged by Philippine officials and their counterparts, she said.
-Code of Conduct important to avoid repeat of Recto Bank incident-
The Philippines is the coordinator for the ASEAN-China dialogue from 2018 to 2021.
As such, the country is the main negotiator between the ASEAN member states and China on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, the DFA official said.
Mahilum-West said that a Code of Conduct is important to avoid mishaps like the recent incident in Recto Bank involving Filipino and Chinese fishermen.
“Because incidents like what happened emphasized the importance of having a Code of Conduct so that we could prevent these incidents from happening in the future,” she said.
During his attendance in the Nikkei’s 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia in Japan, President Duterte highlighted the importance of a binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea to ease regional tension and prevent miscalculation.