JAKARTA, Indonesia—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his Indonesian counterpart, President Joko Widodo, on Monday talked about the hotly contested South China Sea during the former's first state visit here.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a press briefing that matters concerning the South China Sea were included in the two leaders' talk, although she did not disclose any information in particular.
She only said Marcos Jr. and Widodo expressed their reliance on their regional bloc, the ASEAN, in terms of mutual defense and cooperation in the South China Sea.
"As you know, until we set out the details of such cooperation, then we will have to say that in principle they agree on certain matters such as this," she added.
In a recent press briefing, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said "there will clearly be discussions on key regional issues of mutual interest, including the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea issue."
This, as both the Philippines and Indonesia have territorial claims on the South China Sea.
The Philippines asserts its sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea—a part of the South China Sea—by citing the 2016 The Hague ruling. Meanwhile, Indonesia is asserting its rights over parts of the South China Sea, which belong to its exclusive economic zone and supposedly overlap with China's unilaterally claimed nine-dash line.