The Philippines wants to discuss the situations and issues on the West Philippine Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo told a Senate inquiry on Tuesday.

During a public hearing, Senator Imee Marcos asked the government if there were ongoing talks with China regarding heightened tensions in the WPS. 

Manalo said there’s a mechanism called the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) for the South China Sea.

“Well, if there are some agreements reached on certain issues, there are many issues being considered... We'd like to wait and see and then if the conditions are right, then we can go up to a higher level.,” he said. 

Manalo noted that there are “regular lines of communications” but the push for a high-level ministry-to-ministry discussion will depend on the results of the BCM. 

He told Marcos that no high-level discussion had been planned yet. 

Manalo said the DFA's working group was conducted last week in preparation for a BCM meeting with their Chinese counterparts in July.

“We had a working group meeting last week in preparation for what we hope will be a meeting of the BCM—the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism—we hope to be held in early July with our Chinese counterparts, specifically to discuss the recent incidents,” he said  

Manalo said the DFA maintains that the “primacy of dialogue and diplomacy should prevail even in the face of these serious incidents,”

He, however, admitted that “it's also a challenge.”

“We will pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international laws, specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” said Manalo.

“And we have been working hard to bring back China to the table to talk with us to resolve differences on these issues,” he further stressed. 

Manalo said the DFA is eyeing “whether we can arrive at some understandings” or “some kinds of confidence-building measures which could hopefully create a basis then for more serious discussions to see how we can address these other issues.”

The DFA chief assures they will uphold the protection of national sovereignty in these talks with China.

“We will continue to pursue these efforts and also, let me just assure the committee and the Filipino people that while we are seeking the approach for a peaceful resolution through international law and diplomacy,” he said,

Manalo lamented that China's latest actions “are not in accordance” with the previous understanding between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping in managing the situation in the WPS. 

“Of course, we are not blind to the incidents that are happening and we will ensure that whatever confidence-building measures we achieve, they will be not at the expense of the promotion of our sovereignty, sovereign rights as well as our rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.