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MANILA, Philippines — With the Philippine archipelagic waters linking vital trade routes in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the country is well-placed to safeguard maritime liberty, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Sunday.
“Our archipelagic waters are at the heart of busy and vital maritime trade routes that link the Indian and Pacific Oceans, making them indispensable to Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Hence, the Philippines is well-placed to safeguard maritime liberty. And we will continue to adhere to international law, including the UN Charter, the 1982 Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas) and the (2016) Arbitral Award, which binds the Philippines to Unclos, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes through existing UN systems,” he said during the plenary session of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Singapore.
Teodoro said dispute settlement systems are fair, transparent, and aimed not to gloss over major contradictions or problems, but to solve the root causes of disputes.
