ASEAN Experts' Meet endorses PHL proposal on South China Sea

At the conclusion of the ASEAN Maritime Legal Experts’ Meeting in Manila Meeting on Thursday and Friday, the experts affirmed the the regional grouping’s commitment to the peaceful and rules-based approach to the resolution of disputes in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Department of Foreign Affairs said. They extensively discussed the ZoPFF/C initiative in the light of relevant international law principles on regime of islands, maritime zones, and maritime delimitation, according to the DFA. It was the conclusion of the experts that the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) can consider as imperative that the ZoPFF/C be taken into account in the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). “For the DOC to be effective, an actionable framework for joint cooperation in the West Philippine Sea, such a ZoPFF/C, is considered as an imperative," stressed Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario. Secretary del Rosario emphasized that ZoPFF/C can provide effective and meaningful cooperation among claimant countries by its segregation of the disputed features from the non-disputed waters. “ZoPFF/C clearly defines the next steps to be taken by ASEAN and other countries concerned to finally shed light and move forward on the West Philippine Sea issue," he added. "The Meeting took note that the principles embodied in the ZoPFF/C were proposed and fully discussed, and took into account international law specifically the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). — ELR, GMA News