PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III presented the Philippines’ proposal for the Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C) in the West Philippine Sea at the East Asia summit.
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said this was part of the Philippines’ initiative that was brought up in pushing for maritime security.
Carandang said maritime security dominated the discussions and was on “everybody’s agenda.
“There was an agreement to move the discussions on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea” which Carandang considered a positive development.
China also wants to continue talks on the COC but China objected to the Philippines’ ZoPFF/C proposal, saying that “perhaps East Asia summit should not be the proper forum for the South China Sea.”
The COC is also a Philippine proposal but unlike ZoPFF/C, it does not segregate the non-disputed (which can become areas of cooperation) from disputed areas. But Carandang said the Philippine government would like the discussions to use the elements of the ZoPPFF/C.
Carandang said the President also discussed at the East Asia summit disaster management, connectivity among the ASEAN member countries and food security. Aside from Aquino, those who attended the East Asia summit were Brunei Darussalam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hen Sen, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the ASEAN dialogue partners Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and United States President Barack Obama.
