The Philippines’ top envoy will meet his Malaysian and Thai counterparts this week to discuss regional issues and seek deeper bilateral ties, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
In a statement, the agency said Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique A. Manalo and Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Seri Utama Jahi Mohammad Bin Haji Hasan will meet at the Eighth Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to “ matters of mutual interest to both countries and the Southeast Asian region.”
“The reconvening of the JCM manifests the deepening of friendship between the two countries, as well as the expansion of areas of bilateral cooperation,” DFA said.
The meeting is a consultation and cooperation mechanism used to address pressing bilateral and regional issues, the report said.
This comes after Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urged Southeast Asian leaders and China at a regional summit in Laos on Thursday to speed up talks on a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
The idea of a maritime code was first agreed between China and ASEAN in 2002, but the process of creating it only began in 2017.
A United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague in 2016 invalidated China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea, ruling that Scarborough Shoal is a traditional fishing ground for Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. China has controlled the shoal since 2012.
The Philippines has failed to implement the ruling and has since filed hundreds of protests against what it calls encroachment and intimidation by China’s coast guard and its vast fishing fleet.
Meanwhile, Mr Manalo will also meet Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa in Bangkok on October 18 for a separate dialogue on regional and bilateral issues.
The mechanism would “facilitate cooperation and consultation between the Philippines and Thailand on a wide range of issues of bilateral and regional importance,” DFA said in a separate statement.
During the Thai diplomat’s visit to Manila in July, he said Thailand was ready to help the Philippines and China resolve their maritime dispute peacefully and reduce tensions on the waterway.
In addition to the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the South China Sea.
The Philippine Fisheries Bureau reported the sighting of a Chinese maritime militia boat late on Monday had deliberately swept aside one of its two ships conducting routine maritime patrols near Thitu Island on Friday.
US Marines and Philippine troops on Monday kicked off their annual joint military exercises in Kamandag, to be held in the main island of Luzon, Metro Manila and Palawan province, the US Department of Defense’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service said in a statement declaration.
The exercises are aimed at increasing interoperability between the forces through coastal defense, combat medicine and humanitarian assistance exercises, it added.
The Philippines will assume the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2026, where it aims to increase its naval competition with China.
Last year, Mr. Marcos said Manila would take over the presidency of the regional bloc in 2026 as the country aims to “strengthen the foundations of our community-building and guide ASEAN as it embarks on a new chapter.”
“It is regrettable that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains tense and unchanged,” he told Southeast Asian leaders at the summit in Laos, citing a statement from his office. “We continue to face bullying and intimidation.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez