Representatives from ASEAN Coast Guards and Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies (MLEAs) have discussed ways and means to uphold a common understanding and cooperate to ensure safe, secure, and prosperous ASEAN maritime region based on international law, including UNCLOS and its relevant conventions, the arbitral award, treaties, and other legal instruments to which ASEAN countries are parties in the spirit of ASEAN centrality.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra attended the opening ceremony of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coast Guard Forum in Davao which was held from June 05-08 2024.
During his speech, Solicitor General Guevarra highlighted President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s message on the recently concluded Shangri-La Dialogue: 21st Asia Security Summit in Singapore.
He added, even in the face of formidable challenges to the enforcement of our rights to our maritime domain, the Philippines will always seek peace in its relations with other countries. Peace and adherence to international law are values that are writ large in the Philippine Constitution where we have expressly renounced war as an instrument of national policy.”
“He emphasized that there are three constants that ASEAN should consider amidst the changing and challenging international landscape shaping our region, these are: that the sovereign equality of states must remain sacrosanct; Second, that ASEAN and ASEAN-led processes must remain central and Third, that the rule of law and the integrity of multilateralism must prevail,” he furthered.
The Solicitor General also thanked the ASEAN member-states for their support and cooperation in promoting peaceful and lawful uses of the sea within the region.
“It is in your everyday patrolling the seas, consistent conduct of law enforcement activities, and aiding distress to mariners at sea that the purposes of the Convention are realized. Your enforcement of laws within your respective maritime jurisdictions provides the stability and security necessary for the development of the region free from crime and illicit activities,” he expressed.
“ASEAN’s approach to consensus-building and mutual respect for each other’s processes has effectively prevented conflicts from arising in our region. It is my hope that meaningful discussions in this forum among implementors and enforcers of the law of the sea will yield cooperative arrangements and other protocols that would ensure that the peace and stability that the region has enjoyed for decades will continue to flourish,” Solicitor General Guevarra concluded.
