Marcos tells ASEAN, Australia: Exercise boldness in maintaining respect for rules-based int’l order

MELBOURNE, Australia — Amid the recent harassment made by Chinese forces against a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, President Ferdinand ”Bongbong” Marcos urged ASEAN member states and Australia to exercise boldness upholding rules-based international order.

In his remarks at the Leaders’ Retreat on Wednesday, Marcos stressed that rules-based international order emanates from the lessons of history. He noted that conflicts and war necessitated an international order based on institutions and rules which are of universal import.  

”It therefore behooves the Philippines, ASEAN, and Australia, and all like-minded states to exercise the boldness and sense of responsibility to remain committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes and to maintain respect for the rules-based international order and multilateralism, especially in the face of deliberate efforts by others to denigrate, deny, and even violate international law,” Marcos said.

Marcos also said we need not to repeat what happened in our history in order to recognize its lessons.

The Philippine president maintained that his administration would not yield an inch of our sovereign territory ”as we are committed to defending our rights within the parameters recognized by international law.”

Marcos underscored that it remains the responsibility of each state to promote and protect the rule of international law ”as much as any other state facing wanton military might.”

It remains the responsibility of each state to promote and protect the rule of international law as much as any other state facing wanton military might.

”Excellencies, we all have our respective positions on recent developments around the world,” the President said.

”The disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the developments in the Middle East have taught us invaluable lessons on the paramount importance of the need to deftly and delicately manage the growing challenges of geopolitics, recognizing that their adverse effects on our interconnected economies will certainly affect the well being of all our citizens,” he added.

Further, Marcos called on the ASEAN member states to frame conflicts not simply as rivalry between major powers, but as direct challenges to the sovereignty of independent states whose well-being, both politically and economically,are interdependent and intertwined.

”Peace is both a global public good and one of humanity’s highest values that no one state should put at risk, for whatever gain or motive,” Marcos said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News