(UPDATES) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) was crucial to the drafting of Philippine foreign policy.
The President made the comment during the courtesy visit of PCA Secretary-General Dr. Marcin Czepelak in Malacañang.
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the PCA renders arbitrations on legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty and human rights.
WELCOME VISIT President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Secretary General Marcin Czepelak at the Malacanan Palace on Aug. 29, 2024. In July 2016, the PCA ruled against China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea, encroaching on the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, which Beijing rejected. Czepelak’s visit is in line with the PCA’s customary visits to member-states in an aim to promote peaceful resolution of international disputes. PPA POOL / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
”I’m very happy that you visited us this year because we, of course, in the Philippines right now, the Permanent Court of Arbitration is an important part of our foreign policy, considering all the challenges that we are facing,” Marcos told Czepelak.
”Our continuing adherence to international law the Permanent Court of Administration is on, we can say that that is an argument that we can make and have made in several instances. It’s very gratifying for me to welcome you to Manila,” he added.
The visit, which was Czepelak’s first, coincided with the PCA’s 125th anniversary.
His Manila stop also comes at the heels of the country’s territorial dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.
It was in 2016 when the PCA ruled in favor of the Philippines, junking China’s expansive nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea, which encroaches on some Philippine maritime territories.
The ruling, however, was ignored by China.
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