The Senate wants diplomatic discussions on the various issues hounding the South China Sea (SCS) during the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said.
According to Zubiri, he has already instructed his colleagues to “tone down the rhetoric” and “temper the discussions” should the issues hounding the region are taken up, especially when they deliberate about concerns on the West Philippine Sea.
The Senate leader pointed out members of China’s parliamentary are also among the delegates in the APPF. Other delegates will come from Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Canada and other nations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Region.
A total of 273 delegates from 18 countries will be participating in the APPF that would be hosted by the Philippine Congress from Nov. 23 to 25, 2023 and which would be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
“We have to tone down the rhetoric. We have to tone it down, because tayo ang host, so kelangan dito walang bastusan (we are the host, so there should be no element of disrespect),” Zubiri told reporters in an interview on Wednesday, November 22.
“Kelangan (natin) dito (maging) very diplomatic at kailangan natin i-moderate yung ating hinanaing sa ating mga kapitbahay dito sa Asya (We need to be very diplomatic and we need to moderate our complaints against our neighbors here in Asia),” he added.
Nevertheless, Zubiri said Philippine lawmakers have prepared draft resolutions on the WPS that would center on the results of their upcoming dialogues regarding freedom of navigation, peace and stability in the area and other multi-lateral discussions.
“There’s already prepared resolutions. As early as of now, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the Senate, together with the House of Representatives, have already formulated a draft resolution and within that draft resolutions, would be our comments there about freedom of navigation, peace and stability in the WPS, multilateral discussions,” he pointed out.
“And I think that would be one of the key features in the end of the forum that would be discussed in this particular resolution,” he added.
Zubiri said the country’s lawmakers are careful not to be “too combative” since they do not want any member of the APPF to leave the Philippines with a negative impression of the government.
“We don’t want members of the APPF to leave sour-faced, that everything turned out negatively and destroyed our camaraderie. We want everyone to be united. So we have to tone down (our statements),” he said in mix English and Filipino.
Aside from China, members from the Russian delegation are also coming as they also expect the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia to be taken up during the breakout committee sessions.
It is also inevitable for the parliamentarians to discuss the impact of the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine and other countries in the Middle East, therefore, all Philippine lawmakers have to consider the concerns of Muslim members in the ASEAN region, Zubiri said.
The Philippine lawmakers and the APPF delegates are also keen on holding high-level discussions on how to address cross-border human trafficking.
Zubiri will lead the Philippines in welcoming parliamentarians to the international conference, which will be themed, “Building Resilient Partnerships: Advancing Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability in the Asia Pacific.”
Zubiri would be the chair, while House Speaker Martin Romualdez would serve as the co-chair of the 31st APPF conference; Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. will head the Philippine delegation.
“The Philippines is honored to open our doors for this Annual Meeting at this most important time of pandemic recovery, where resilient partnerships are crucial to the collective uplift of our people,” Zubiri said.
“We have suffered through and survived various public health crises, particularly the SARS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic; and we have been hit by and helped one another through typhoons, droughts, and earthquakes of mythic proportions,” he also pointed out.
“What emerges today is an Asia Pacific brought together not only by geography but by shared realities, shared values, and shared goals—made stronger by our intergovernmental partnerships, including the APPF initiative,” the Senate chief added.
This would be the second time that the Philippines would be hosting the APPF since hosting the first meeting in 1994. Also expected to join Filipino legislators are lawmakers from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Lao PDR, Mexico, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russian Federation, Thailand and Vietnam.