The Philippines is hosting a three-day forum that aims to tackle with its Asian neighbors political and economic issues and challenges affecting the maritime sphere.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu opened the East Asian Summit on Tuesday as they expressed concern over environmental and maritime issues that may lead to overheating and acidification of oceans, mass marine life extinction and flooding.
"From the Indo-Pacific region to the East Asia seas, all of us gathered around in this forum would bear the same consequences of our wanton neglect of our maritime resources and ecosystems," Lazaro warned in her opening remark.
While ASEAN already took initial steps in protecting and preserving the marine environment, like the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris, Lazaro believed there is more to be done.
"Governments cannot solve environmental problems on their own. Providing solutions to the impending destruction of the oceans requires a multi-stakeholder approach, with emphasis on stronger scientific collaboration," she said.
This year's event is the second time that the Philippines is hosting EAS after 2017, according to Espiritu.
The theme of this year's workshop is 'Technical and Scientific Cooperation towards Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Oceans,' he added.
"As we move forward to a new action plan for 2023-2027, we hope that this activity can serve as a strategic platform to further bolster our maritime cooperation in the region," Espiritu said.