NEW DELHI, India – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday expressed his dismay over how the world looked at the maritime disputes in the South China Sea. 

While he did not mention specific countries nor pointed fingers, he delivered his statement with a somber note.

“Some of our fellow defenders of the international system that we built together in 1945 have since shifted their priorities, turning more inward and prioritizing urgent national concerns, at times at the expense of the principles we used to champion collectively,” he said at the foreign policy address hosted by the Observer Research Foundation.

While Marcos admitted that each country needed to tend to their own and the Philippines left with almost no ally, was left alone, other parties who have a different agenda took advantage of this situation.

“Unfortunately, such narratives at times dominate, obscuring the international community’s judgment,” he said.

“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 claims were all equal. They are not. The assertions of littoral states have to pass the test of conformity with international law, particularly the UNCLOS and definitive, binding interpretations, such as the 2016 Arbitral Award,” he explained.

Marcos emphasized that with these narratives, concerned countries and stakeholders in the South China Sea distract them from “calling out illegal and unlawful actions for what they are: violations of international law.”

A jab at Beijing?

Taking careful yet powerful statements that remain diplomatic in nature, Marcos said large nations use geopolitics as a way to impose influence in regional level.

“Indeed, there are those 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 noted that stakeholders have resigned to take upon themselves to become more responsible in their own capacity and play a more active role in upholding, defending, and preserving our rules-based order.

“Through our Strategic Partnership, the Philippines and India must assert the clarity of international law. As co-architects of the rules-based international order, we have a solid foundation in which we can build,” he stressed.

“We Filipinos are proud of our efforts to promote the rule of law, including through the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes. We also find inspiration in India’s contributions, example, and its own adherence to the law,” he added.