MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has a chance to raise the sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel in the West Philippine Sea during the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Thailand.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Junever Mahilum-West said the South China Sea, part of which is the West Philippine Sea, will be on the agenda of the summit this week.
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"During the exchange of views on regional developments, there is an opening to raise these issues," Mahilum-West said in a Malacañang briefing Tuesday.
The DFA official noted that the Philippines is a coordinator of the ASEAN-China dialogue partnership until 2021, where Beijing and ASEAN member states are negotiating the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Mahilum-West said incidents such as the collision of a Filipino and Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea would be among the agenda during the negotiations.
"Incidents like what happened emphasize the importance of having a code of conduct so that we could avoid, we could prevent these incidents from happening in the future," Mahilum-West said.
The DFA official, however, did not categorically confirm if the Philippines would raise the issue before the summit as investigations are ongoing.
"For one thing, there is this investigation that is ongoing that up to the present discloses certain facts that we did not know before," she said.
The Philippine government is also waiting for the response of China on the "strong" diplomatic protest that it had lodged against Beijing.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier tweeted that he had fired off a diplomatic protest after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana released a statement condemning the actions of the Chinese vessel in abandoning the 22 Filipino fishermen as their boat was sinking.
Noting that major factors are pending, Mahilum-West said it would be premature to confirm if the Philippines would raise the Recto Bank incident at the ASEAN Summit.
President Rodrigo Duterte, along with other Cabinet members, will be attending the 34th ASEAN Summit in Thailand from June 22 to 23.