Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday favored a “whole avenue of cooperation” between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea that would lead to a mutually beneficial economic progress for both countries.

At the pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) media briefing, Locsin said that is how the countries can move forward even when China refuses to abide with the Arbitral Tribunal’s July, 2016 award nullifying Beijing’s “nine-dash line” that claims almost the entire waters of the South China Sea.
 
“But in the meantime, we can go around it. There are other areas of cooperation. Maybe we can both mutually benefit from that,” Locsin said.
 
The DFA secretary cited as an example the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for oil and gas development cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative that he signed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi two years ago.
 
“That's how we proceed forward. It doesn’t always have to be angry all the time. What’s wrong with that? Countries have disagreements. We have disagreements even with the United States and it doesn't mean we can’t be friends and we can’t work together,” Locsin pointed out.
 
Despite China’s continued defiance to abide by the arbitral ruling, Locsin said “it’s a free world” and the Philippines has the law on its side. 
 
“You want me to get angry with China because they express their own opinion? The point is we won it. If they don't want to recognize it, (it’s) okay, they can say that. But we know we have the law on our side, we have The Hague on our side,” he said.