News from Philippines

In part of next week’s ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in Indonesia, an ASEAN-US talks that will take place in the second day of the summit.  It was reported that President Aquino will co-chair the dialogue along with the President Obama.  Its main focus was said to be the current issue of the Spratly’s Island, on which jurisdiction over these oil-rich group of islands have been claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China.   Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio said that Pres. Aquino will present again his last year’s proposal of the ZoPFFC/C Framework, a segregation of the disputed areas based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

This event reflects the renewed role of the Philippines on international issues.   It could now take the lead to propose for resolutions addressing significant problems like that of Spratly’s.  This may seem as an imperative for the country to take immediate actions since the recent reports of Chinese naval ships near its territory.  Yet, this is still an implicit confirmation of the presence of the Philippines on international affairs, most especially in the ASEAN region.

This may be attributed to the change of administration in the Philippine government.  The former-president has been bombarded with corruption allegations and controversies that have made her improbable to be a reliable key player on foreign agendas.  With the election of Pres. Aquino, the Philippines have all over the news on inter-state summits.  This is may be a good sign for the country, but for such to continue, internal political and economic stability should be established.  In part of next week’s ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in Indonesia, an ASEAN-US talks that will take place in the second day of the summit.  It was reported that President Aquino will co-chair the dialogue along with the President Obama.  Its main focus was said to be the current issue of the Spratly’s Island, on which jurisdiction over these oil-rich group of islands have been claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and China.   Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio said that Pres. Aquino will present again his last year’s proposal of the ZoPFFC/C Framework, a segregation of the disputed areas based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.