​President Marcos and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Tuesday, Jan. 30, stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea amid contesting claims over the waters.
Citing the importance of maritime security, safety and the freedom of navigation in and overflight above the contested waterway, Marcos and Thuong called for exercise of self-restraint in the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate the existing disputes.
As both the Philippines and Vietnam have claims over parts of the South China Sea, the two leaders wanted any other nations to avoid doing unilateral acts that can change the status quo and increase tensions.

Marcos and Thuong called for peaceful settlement of disputes, without resorting to threats and use of force, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
"They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the full and effective implementation of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and working towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) that is in accordance with international law," their both statements read.
"In this regard, they urged the promotion of an environment that is conducive to the COC negotiations," it added.
Their shared concern prompted them to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Incident Prevention and Management in the South China Sea, which happened as Marcos visited Vietnam.