Palace hopeful South China Sea COC will be signed before ASEAN chairmanship ends

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Malacañang on Thursday said it is still hopeful that the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea would be signed before the Philippines' Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chairmanship ends.

"Bawat araw dapat may pag-asa (we should have hope every day)," Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said during a press briefing.

"Sa ngayon, hindi rin natin masasabi kung talagang hindi ito magkakaroon ng konkulsyon sa 49th ASEAN Summit dahil ang gusto pa rin ng Pangulo ay masa-pinal sa panahon na ang Pilipinas ang ASEAN chair," she added.

(As of now, we cannot say if the COC will be concluded during the 49th ASEAN Summit because President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. want to finalized it during the Philippines’ chairmanship.)

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro earlier said ASEAN and China do not want the South China Sea to have a situation like that in the Strait of Hormuz, the reason they negotiate to com up with a code of conduct.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted the shipment of petroleum products through the Strait of Hormuz—considered the world’s most vital oil export route—causing significant supply concerns globally.

This has driven up fuel prices in the different parts of the world, including the Philippines.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea had no legal basis under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but China has rejected the ruling.

Tensions have nevertheless persisted as China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a major waterway through which more than $3 trillion in annual shipborne commerce passes.

Parts of the sea are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. — RSJ, GMA News