The Philippines will never become "a provocateur" of conflict in the South China Sea despite repeated infringement on its sovereignty.
Manila’s envoy to Washington, Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez, promised that the Philippines will always resort to diplomacy and dialogue amid being on the frontline to defend the rules-based international order in the heavily-disputed waterway.
Romualdez is Manila’s ambassador to the United States, the main supporter and defender of the Philippines against aggression it experiences from China in the South China Sea.
At a conference organized by Stratbase ADR Institute on Wednesday, Nov. 6, Romualdez laid out five reasons why the Philippines would never provoke tension in the waters.
First, he said, the Philippines has always remained proactive in its engagements, particularly with China, and continues to keep its channels open.
That was actually the reason why an understanding on the principles and approaches for the conduct of rotation and resupply missions, which had been the source of escalating tension between the two sides in the past, was reached.
The Philippines is also active in engaging with regional partners, particularly with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Romualdez said.
“We maintain regional engagement to the ASEAN and remain engaged in strengthening partnerships with the other claimant states in the context of the Code of Conduct of the COC negotiations and through bilateral engagements. We are committed to the process of concluding a substantive and effective COC,” he said.
The third and fourth ways were through the Philippines’ alliance with like-minded countries and through conducting maritime dialogues and cooperation.
Romualdez said that through alliances, the Philippines has recognized the importance of multilateralism to reinforce partnership; and that through dialogue, the country is able to expand mechanisms from political consultations.
“Fifth, through advancing [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] and the rule of law in global ocean management, we seek to broaden the acknowledgement of the Arbitral Award and the Philippines' position by advancing the rule of law and underscoring the primacy of UNCLOS as a comprehensive legal framework for law and order in the seas and the management of issues and challenges in the oceans,” he said.
“And finally, through public diplomacy and awareness efforts, we pursue broad public diplomacy and awareness efforts, mindful that domestic support is the fuel that propels our actions forward,” Romualdez added.