A working lunch with high-ranking foreign officials during the ASEAN-US special summit became a platform for the Philippines to thank the United States for being its "most vocal partner" in reaffirming the 2016 arbitral ruling that the country won over China.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. in his speech during a working lunch hosted by US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington D.C. on May 13 expressed gratitude to the US government for sharing the same view on the issue in the South China Sea.
This as he reaffirmed the country's position in upholding the arbitral ruling that favored the Philippines in 2016.
"The U.S. is our most vocal partner in reaffirming the 2016 Arbitral Award and upholding a rules-based international order. We deeply appreciate that," Locsin said.
He also welcomed the call of the US Senate for a common ASEAN approach to reaffirm the Award. "Thank you, America," he said.
Locsin said the Philippines being an archipelagic state, "puts primacy on maritime freedom and security, first and foremost in its exclusive waters; be they territorial, EEZed or continental shelf."
He stressed that the Philippines hold fast to the Arbitral Award that it fought and won "in the teeth of international indifference and outside opposition from the world’s second biggest economic and military power."
"What is ours is ours. It can be taken from us by stealth or force; yet that would not diminish a whit of our sovereign ownership. What is stolen cannot be lost by prescription, we insist. Brute facts do not ripen into law," he stated.
The Philippine top diplomat also pointed out that the benefit of the arbitral award is not exclusive to the Philippines.
"The Award provides legal clarity to all and is available to other countries with the same problematic maritime features as ours. It benefits the world across the board," he said.
Locsin attended the two-day special summit on behalf of President Duterte.