"We're pretty much there."
This was what President Marcos said when asked about the progress of forging a bilateral code of conduct in the South China Sea with Vietnam.
"Yun yung Memorandum of Understanding na ating ginagawa between our two coast guards pati yung mga plano na magkakaroon ng mga joint cruises, joint exercises, this year, 2024 (The Memorandum of Understanding that we have done between our two coast guards, including the plan to conduct joint cruises, joint exercises, this year, 2024, was about that)," Marcos said in a post-state visit interview in Vietnam on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
The Philippines and Vietnam forged two agreements that aim to prevent and manage incidents in the South China Sea and to establish a hotline communication mechanism between the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG).
These will be undertaken under the MOU on Incident Prevention and Management in the South China Sea and MOU between the PCG and the VCG on Maritime Cooperation.
Marcos said the bilateral code of conduct would prevent problems between the Philippines and neighboring countries from occurring in the South China Sea while the code of conduct with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has yet to materialize.
"Kung hindi natin matapos ang code of conduct with ASEAN and China, ay sabi ko e, 'di gawin natin na bilateral na muna ang members of ASEAN (If the code of conduct with ASEAN and China will not be completed, I said then let us do the bilateral with the members of ASEAN for the meantime," the President said.
"Para naman hindi na natin kailangang alalahanin na magkakaproblema tayo sa Vietnam, magkakaproblema tayo sa Brunei, magkakaproblema tayo sa Malaysia etcetera, etcetera (So that it will no longer be concerned about problems that might arise with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia etcetera, etcetera)," he added.
"That is what--- that’s the effort that we're trying to do and we have succeeded on that. Those certain measure here in Vietnam," he further said as he concluded his two-day state visit in Hanoi.