Philippines to urge peaceful resolution of Korean row

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will renew its call for a peaceful resolution of the disputes in the Korean peninsula during President Marcos’ participation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this week, officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Assistant Secretary Nathaniel Imperial of the DFA’s Office of the Asian and Pacific Affairs said the situation in the Korean peninsula is “of paramount concern to us,” noting that a significant number of Filipinos live and work in South Korea.

“This is of paramount concern to us because we do have around 46,500 Filipinos living and working in the Republic of Korea, in close proximity to North Korea,” Imperial said at a recent Palace briefing.

He said the Philippines issued another statement on Nov. 2 condemning Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launches that have raised tensions in the region.

“This is already the fourth statement to be issued by the Philippines since early this year basically condemning the missile tests or launches,” Imperial said.

Office of the ASEAN Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said North Korea has always been part of the Philippines’ agenda in all meetings of ASEAN.

“Our position on that has always been consistent and clear: we have always expressed our concern regarding the ballistic missile tests of North Korea,” Espiritu said.

The Philippines has joined other nations in calling on North Korea to abide by the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions on this issue and urged parties in the Korean peninsula to return to the negotiating table to find a peaceful resolution on this dispute, the DFA officials said.

Marcos will attend the 40th and 41st ASEAN summits and related meetings from Nov. 10 to 13 – the first to be conducted in person since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Marcos is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders during his trip to Phnom Penh, including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Imperial said.

Held twice a year, the ASEAN Summit serves as a venue for discussion and policy deliberations on various developments and global issues affecting the Southeast Asian region and beyond.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

SC seeks unified video conference protocols

A unified protocol for conducting video conference hearings (VCHs) among Southeast Asian countries handling parties and witnesses outside their own jurisdiction but still belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is being sought by the Philippine Supreme Court (SC).

Underscoring the importance of common guidelines and principles for the conduct of VCHs, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo told ASEAN chief justices that the Philippines’ high court would be submitting a concept note that proposes such a protocol.

“Seeing the benefits we have reaped from VCHs, we will submit a concept note to propose, as a possible area for ASEAN collaboration under the Working Group on Future Work, the adoption of common principles and guidelines for the conduct of video conference hearings involving parties and witnesses outside the territory of a state where the action is pending, but still within the ASEAN,” Gesmundo said during the 10th Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.

“In the interest of consistency, efficiency and mutual protection, therefore, a CACJ-ASEAN protocol on the conduct of video conference hearings would be ideal,” he added.

In early 2020, the SC allowed trial courts and appellate courts to hear cases in a fully remote capacity through teleconferencing platforms.

The policy temporarily allowed the high court some reprieve in addressing the urgent issue of decongesting court dockets, as well as the absence of court space or facilities for some judges.

While more courts have opted to hear cases in person, the SC is currently pushing for the institutionalization of VCHs as part of its push for a technology-driven judiciary.

Since 2020, over a million VCHs have been conducted by courts nationwide, recording at least an 89-percent success rate for over 1.1 million VCHs as of Oct. 13.

“Due to this high success rate, the Supreme Court is presently updating its guidelines on VCH to transition the use of the rule to a post-pandemic world, making it a permanent device and option in every Filipino judge’s trial toolkit, especially for the best interests of child witnesses, for enhanced victim protection and prevention of re-victimization, for easier access to counsel and even family for detained witnesses and parties; and, in general, for greater time and cost efficiency,” Gesmundo said.

Associate Justice Midas Marquez earlier said 60 percent of all courts nationwide have been provided with platforms to conduct VCHs, and that the SC has allotted funds to provide a P5,000 monthly communication allowance to court branches for internet utility.

The high court is currently drumming up support from judges, court personnel, lawyers and other stakeholders for the judiciary’s five-year innovation plan dubbed the Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovation 2022-2027 (SPJI), which is intended to provide Filipinos “equal access to justice real-time.”

Stressing that the SPJI is anchored on timely and fair justice, transparent and accountable justice, equal and inclusive justice, and technologically adaptive management, Gesmundo said it would help review and assess the organizational structure and operations of the various offices of the judiciary, and develop and establish an information and communications technology infrastructure for the Philippine judiciary. – Neil Jayson Servallos