Gibo to ASEAN: Condemn nature reserve declaration

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro has called on his counterparts in Southeast Asia to condemn the harassment being perpetrated against Filipino fisherfolk in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), who are denied the right to fish in sovereign waters.

“We must condemn the unilateral declaration of a nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc, which denies fisherfolk of various countries the right to fish in what has been legally recognized as their traditional fishing grounds,” Teodoro said during the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM)-Plus meeting on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur.

“This, to us, is a veiled attempt to wield military might and the threat for use of force, undermining the rights of smaller countries and their citizens who rely on the bounty of these waters,” he added.

Even as the Philippines engages in practical cooperation under the ADMM-Plus, the defense chief called harassment faced by the country in the WPS as “behavior that flatly and blatantly contradicts the principles enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (in Southeast Asia).”

“The ADMM-Plus is a framework not only for exchanges of views but also for functional cooperation, even among states with differing interests, and sometimes dichotomic interests,” Teodoro noted.

The secretary acknowledged that countries such as India and Vietnam exhibit “sterling approach” in complying with international law in good faith and working together with others “despite, in the true spirit of ASEAN, our differences.”

Attended by defense officials and delegates from ASEAN member states, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States, the 12th ADMM-Plus also featured the adoption of the “Joint Statement by the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of the Founding of the ADMM-Plus.”

Teodoro reaffirmed that the Philippines will “continue to forge results-oriented partnerships with peace-loving and law-abiding states both in Southeast Asia and beyond.”

“As we navigate our future together, our wish is that we go beyond practical cooperation, but towards principled and purposive collective action. Only in this manner will the ADMM evolve to truly serve the interests of ASEAN, as our people deserve,” he said.