Marcos urges stronger global role to uphold rules-based order amid SCS tensions
Delivering his foreign policy address at an event organized by international global think tank Observer Research Foundation, the President noted that some powers 'are seeking to take advantage' of some nations that shifted its priorities to internal concerns.
'Unfortunately, such narratives at times dominate, obscuring the international community's judgment,' he said in his address at the Leela Palace on Wednesday in New Delhi, on the sidelines of his state visit in India.
Marcos cited the issue on South China Sea, emphasizing that not all claims are equal.
For instance, the complex issue of competing claims in the South China Sea has, for years, been unfortunately and simplistically reduced to 'the South China Sea disputes,' as if all claims are equal. They are not,' he added.
Marcos noted that the claims of several states 'have to pass the test of conformity with international law' particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and 'definitive, binding interpretations such as the 2016 Arbitral Award.
'Such misinformation or inaccurate narratives distract us from calling out illegal and unlawful actions for what they are: violations of international law,' he said.
The President also stated that there are forces 'who sometimes justify such provocations under the pretext of geopolitics.'
'Just as disconcertingly, there are those who seek to discredit international legal procedures and dismiss binding rulings to cloak opaque claims with a semblance of legitimacy', he said.
Marcos did not specify any nation, but China has long been making sweeping claims in the South China Sea including massive parts of West Philippine Sea.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016, invalidating China's 'nine-dash line' but which China refuses to acknowledge up to now.
Marcos urged both the Philippines and India 'to assert the clarity of international law' as part of its strategic partnership.
'As co-architects of the rules-based international order, we have a solid foundation on which we can build,' the Chief Executive noted.
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