President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged to persuade other countries to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to secure the world from nuclear threats.

Marcos made the commitment to Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the CTBTO, during the official’s courtesy call at Malacañang on Tuesday.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Floyd requested the President’s help in persuading the leaders of Tonga, Bhutan, and Nepal to sign and ratify the CTBT which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 September 1996.

The CTBT prohibits “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion” globally and enforces sanctions on violators.

Since 1996, 187 nations have signed the treaty, with 178 ratifying it.

Floyd said Tonga is the last South Pacific country to sign and ratify the treaty. Nepal has not ratified the treaty because “they just haven’t managed to get the ratification process through the Parliament yet,” he said.

“One of the difficulties is they keep changing their leaders so it’s hard to get the process completed,” he added.

According to the PCO, the treaty cannot formally enter into force until it is ratified by 44 specific countries, nine of which have yet to do so. These countries are China, North Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the United States.

“The Philippines recognizes the critical role of the CTBT as a key confidence-building mechanism to promote cooperation among states and to resolve regional and global security issues,” the PCO said.

In a social media post, Marcos said he met with Floyd to reaffirm Manila’s commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“In a nuclear war, no one wins. A world free of nuclear threat is a safer home for all,” he said.