Against the gray hulls

At the recent Munich Security Conference in Germany, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro used one of the world’s most prominent security forums to sharpen Manila’s maritime message: The rules governing the seas must hold.

The annual gathering brought together 68 foreign ministers and senior officials to debate the conflicts and power shifts reshaping the global order.

For the Philippines, a treaty ally of the US and a frontline state in the South China Sea, maritime security in the Indo-Pacific is a daily policy priority with economic and strategic consequences.

Lazaro’s engagements reflected that emphasis. She conducted more than a dozen bilateral meetings with foreign ministers and high-level counterparts.

In each, she reiterated the Philippines’ position that adherence to international law and a rules-based order remains essential to managing tensions and preventing escalation at sea.

She also granted an interview to Deutsche Welle and participated in two events centered on maritime cooperation.

Recently, Lazaro served as a lead discussant in a roundtable titled “All Hands on Deck: Upholding Maritime Security in the Indo-Pacific,” organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusaenarbeit GmbH.

The discussion examined how regional states are safeguarding domestic waters while ensuring the uninterrupted flow of global trade.

Lazaro underscored that rising tensions and actions that disregard established norms have direct implications for freedom of navigation and international commerce.

She called for full respect for international law as the primary stabilizing force in contested maritime spaces.

As chair of Asean in 2026, the Philippines has placed maritime security at the center of its regional agenda. Lazaro provided updates on negotiations toward an Asean-China Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, which Asean foreign ministers have mandated to conclude this year.

She described an intensified pace of talks, including monthly in-person technical meetings, as a basis for cautious optimism.

Lazaro also reaffirmed that Unclos remains the comprehensive legal framework governing maritime entitlements, navigational rights, marine resources and peaceful dispute settlement.

The 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea, she noted, reaffirmed these principles.