During the summit, Duterte’s first since he assumed office on June 30, the President will promote the Philippines’ top priorities, which is a “drug-free Asean”. “I’m not aware that there was any request from either side”.
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Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella said the September 6-8 ASEAN meeting in Vientiane was “extraordinarily full” and that “a number of possible meetups have to be presently foregone”. And the President values the important relationships that we have not just maintained, but strengthened with our treaty allies around the world. “But you can be very sure of this, that when we face bilaterals, pag magkaharap na kami [referring to Beijing] there will be a time when I will say that this is the [UN] arbitral ruling and if you want to talk to me, this will be my platform, and we do not go out of the four corners of this document”.
On September 3, Barack Obama will embark on his 11th trip to Asia, visiting China and Laos.
“I think the President is prepared”, said Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Office of ASEAN Affairs Maria Hellen dela Vega during the pre-departure media briefing for the summit in Malacañang. “So I think he’s prepared for it”.
Dela Vega pointed out that during Duterte’s meeting with Obama, the talking points will revolve around the results of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Ministerial Meeting last July.
Almost 2,000 people have been killed since Duterte was sworn into office on June 30 and immediately launched his war on crime, according to the national police chief.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, however, played down the newest statements of Washington, saying that the President is ready to answer any allegations of human rights and extra-judicial killings that will be raised by the country’s closest strategic ally.
The summits, hosted by Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, will be attended by Heads of State and Government of the 10 ASEAN and 18 East Asia Summit Participating Countries, respectively.
“I do not intend to raise the issue of [the South China Sea] before the ASEAN”, despite the continuing acts of China signalling it stuck to its position to ignore the ruling handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
In the Laos meeting, Southeast Asian countries and China will establish hotlines and adopt communications protocols to avoid potential naval clashes in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the DFA said.
“It’s one way of de-escalating tensions in the South China Sea”, she told reporters.
The Philippines, including Asean members Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, has territorial disputes with China over the overlapping claims over the sea.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea where about $5-trillion sea-borne trade passes annually.
Jose said that Duterte will not insist on raising the South China Sea issue during the summit, in contrast to his predecessor.
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But he said the Philippines can take only so much, with China insisting that it owns the contested territories and refusing to recognize a July 12 ruling by an global tribunal that invalidated Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea based on historical grounds.
