Philippines, Vietnam pursue Understanding on West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Vietnam are working on an understanding that will govern the entry of Vietnamese vessels into the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to avert any untoward incident that may sour relations between the two regional allies, President Marcos said yesterday.

During his bilateral meeting with Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia last Wednesday, Marcos brought up an incident last February when the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) flagged a Vietnamese vessel engaged in long-line fishing in Recto (Reed) Bank.

“I have asked our foreign ministers – our Foreign Secretary and then the Foreign Minister of Vietnam – to begin talks so that we can have an agreement so there will be no more problems like this,” Marcos said in Filipino during an interview en route to Manila.

“Because this is not contentious – it’s something that we never had to worry about before, only now,” he added, noting the opportunity to talk out matters when the two leaders attended the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Indonesia the past week.

“We need to talk about it early… so no incidents like this will happen again,” Marcos said.

The PCG had reported that the incident happened on Feb. 9 in Recto Bank, which is believed to have huge reserves of oil and natural gas.

Overall, the meeting between Pham and Marcos focused on the flourishing trade relationship between the Philippines and Vietnam, highlighted by the potential for continued development in agriculture and transfer of technologies for climate change.?Marcos said he told Pham that they need to strengthen their nations’ relationship “beyond trading in rice” and that Manila and Hanoi could also improve their cooperation in tourism.

For his part, Pham committed to work with the Philippines on trade promotion which would continue to diversify supply chains and trade between the two countries.

He gave assurance that when it comes to products that Vietnam can afford to provide the Philippines based on long-term strategic supply, he would task their ministries and agencies to “continue to try to do so.”

Pham reminded Marcos: “We do have great empathy with sympathy for the Philippines in the natural disasters that they often have to come across.”?

The Prime Minister also looked forward to a sustained and strategic partnership with the Philippines in the trading of goods, along with the assurance of stability in terms of quality and pricing. He said this would contribute to the resilience of both nations against potential external shocks and disruptions in the future.?

In addition, Pham asked Marcos to support Vietnam’s candidacy to various United Nations-led organizations, including the UN Human Rights Council, Security Council, the presidency of the 91st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the UN Commission on International Trade