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A Keynote Address by the

Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo

The Indo-Pacific Region in the Eyes of the Philippines

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 07 May 2024

At the outset, I wish to respectfully acknowledge the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam peoples on whose sacred, unceded and ancestral territories we are gathering today.

Introduction / Overview of bilateral relations

I am pleased to be here in Vancouver and wish to thank the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada for hosting this morning’s event.

Vancouver holds a special place in the history of Philippines-Canada relations. It was in Vancouver, particularly in Bowen Island, that the first Filipino immigrant in Canada, Benson Flores, arrived in 1861 and lived there around the time that Canada became a constitutional monarchy. He was a fisherman whose ship traversed the Pacific and called on the bustling port of Vancouver. In 1896, a Sunlife of Canada branch opened in Manila. Five years later, another Canadian insurance company, Manulife, opened an office in Manila.

Today, the nearly 1 million Canadians with Filipino heritage bear witness to these abiding human, and socio-economic ties, portending closer connections ahead for our two countries.

Our bond was forged in the fires of the Second World War, after which we both stood arm and in arm, to build a a new architecture of the global order centered on the United Nations, as partners amongst its 51 founding members. Even then, our leaders acknowledged our shared values.

In 1946, Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King wrote Manuel Roxas, the first post WW-2 president of the Philippines, expressing “the hope and belief of the Canadian people that the partnership of the peoples of Canada and the Philippines in the Pacific War, and their continued collaboration in the building of a new world order, will result in bringing our two countries together in ever closer cooperation and friendship.

In the negotiations on the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945, Filipino diplomat Carlos P. Romulo was the voice of the voiceless millions, insisting that the right to independence of all colonial peoples had to be respected if peace was to endure. Lester Pearson also staunchly supported the right to sovereignty and the cause of international peace when crisis hit the Suez Canal in 1956.

Romulo and Pearson -- the fourth and the seventh presidents of the United Nations General Assembly, respectively -- embodied our two peoples’ vision for an open, inclusive, and rules-based international order and for global peace. Pearson was later known as the father of United Nations peacekeeping, a tradition to which the Philippines has also contributed actively. Romulo rallied the leaders of the developing world into affirming the rule of law through the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes.

Romulo’s and Pearson’s legacies form part of the indelible bonds and shared values that we recall as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of our formal diplomatic relations this year.

Evolving Geopolitical Landscape

In his address to the UN in 2022, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that the world is now in “a watershed moment”, one “ready for transformation”, and one that must address “transcendent challenges”. These challenges are as consequential as the challenges of the times of Romulo and Pearson.

Canada understands this, with Foreign Minister Melanie Joly describing the state of play in the world, as one akin to “tectonic plates of the world order… shifting beneath our feet.”

Against such backdrop, the Philippines and Canada understand that this global order we helped build over seven decades ago must evolve along transformative shifts, and deliver durable and far-seeing global solutions to the problems of our age.

To the Philippines, this transformative moment must lead to a new global solidarity around addressing the climate emergency and the degradation of ecosystems, persistent inequities, the malign use of emerging technologies and their threat to human life and dignity and international humanitarian law, the risks of global pandemics, and the weaponisation of the space, cyber and maritime domains, among others.

In the path to collective action, countries have to navigate complexities arising from new geopolitical dynamics, including the rise of China, and sharpening polarities amidst the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Dear friends,

In the context of the Philippines’ independent policy “as a friend to all, and enemy to none” and the Philippines’ contributions to the cause of global peace and justice.

President Marcos has underscored that we see the rules-based global order as “an important ballast that stabilizes our common vessel amidst challenging global tides”. “That is our open, inclusive, and rules-based international order that is governed by international law and informed by the principles of equity and of justice”.

This is true in the Indo Pacific region. Ours is a region very much in the drivers’ seat of global post-pandemic economic resurgence and dynamism. It is also host to what are considered hotspots in international security such as the South China Sea, the Taiwan Straits and the Korean Peninsula.

Only diplomacy, fully adhering to international law, can ensure that the Indo-Pacific delivers its promise as engine of 21st century global economic transformation.

It is important that we acknowledge the following realities:

First : The centrality of ASEAN in shaping the landscape of the Indo-Pacific region. ASEAN must be the lead actor in the regional security architecture, no matter how many mini-laterals may emerge. ASEAN has been, and in the foreseeable future will remain, the ground where all the other powers of the world interact and engage regularly. The Philippines is slated to chair ASEAN in 2026.

Second: The future of this region is being shaped not by one or two powers, but by many actors, each with their own agency and legitimate interests. Indo Pacific discussions must embrace the voices of these actors, including ASEAN countries and Pacific island states, individually and collectively.

This is the case in our immediate neighborhood where China is advancing an illegitimate claim on the entire South China Sea region, with aggressive unilateral actions that undermine international law and threaten peace and stability.

However, the Philippines finds that over-characterizing developments in the South China Sea mainly as a function of the US-China strategic rivalry muddle understanding of the situation on the ground. For one, it places the legitimate rights and interests of countries like the Philippines aside, and secondary to the interests of rivals. It also obscures our judgment: actions that are clearly illegal in international law and against the UN Charter are sometimes justified under the pretext of this rivalry. At the same time, remedies to respond to these actions are viewed by a party in the prism of this strategic rivalry.

Third: Rule of law underpins a global order that fosters respect, trust, and predictability in inter-state relations. It calls out any form of coercion, intimidation, or the use of force and threat of use of force. This is a reason for our commitment to build a partnerships with like-minded countries who share our advocacy for the rule of law, especially the international law of the sea, i.e. UNCLOS.

A rules-based global order also underwrites multilateralism that facilitates convergence and galvanize global action. For as long as there is no credible alternative to the United Nations and multilateral institutions, we must persevere in making these institutions work.

And fourth: Our overarching objective remains to be the peaceful pursuit of development and more prosperous economies for our peoples. Geopolitical anxieties should not detract us from this.

A rules-based regime in the South China Sea

Dear friends,

I cited at the beginning that the Philippines, together with Canada, were among the original members of the United Nations. In fact, there were only 3 founding members from Asia: the Philippines, India and China.

I mentioned this to highlight two points:

Firstly, that in standing by the rules-based order as partners for peace and prosperity in the Indo Pacific, including in the South China Sea, the Philippines and Canada are reinforcing a mission that has been set for our relationship from the beginning.

Secondly, that the Philippines has and will remain committed to the UN, and we have contributed accordingly to rule-making in human rights, international humanitarian law, humanitarian disarmament, international law of the sea etc.

Our adherence to the rules-based approach as the key to the management and resolution of the overlapping claims and maritime disputes in the South China Sea, stands on this rich ground.

The South China Sea region is a small but vital part of the greater Indo-Pacific region. It accounts for 12 percent of the world’s fish catch and some of the most precious ecosystems in the Coral Triangle. More than 30 percent of all global maritime trade passes through it. About 40 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas shipments also traverse the South China Sea. It is in our common interest to keep it free and open, an adherent of the rules-based international order.

This an issue of high national importance to the Philippines. We are an archipelagic state with the 5th largest coastline in the world, 60% of our 110 million population living by the coasts, and our seas comprising 5/6 of our national territory. To us, protecting our rights in our Exclusive Economic Zone and ensuring unimpeded access is critical for safeguarding the livelihoods of our fisherfolk and preserving marine resources vital to our future. Far more than the noise of politics, it must be understood as an issue about our maritime identity, our people and our future.

The 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea definitively settled the status of historic rights and maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, declaring without legal effect claims that exceed entitlements beyond the geographic and substantive limits of UNCLOS. Now part of international law, it provides the moorings for a regime in the South China Sea that guarantees peace and prosperity for our nations and our citizens.

Canada has steadfastly supported the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, bilaterally and in the G7. The Canadian Senate, through the motion filed in 2018 by Senator Thanh Hai Ngo, acknowledged the stake that Canada shares with the Philippines and other littoral and claimant states in keeping the South China Sea peaceful.

Directions of Philippines-Canada Comprehensive Partnership

Friends:

The Philippines is among Canada’s closest and longest standing friends in the Indo-Pacific and its oldest partner among all the ASEAN countries.

The global currents demand a refocused vision and a new level of intentionality in charting the course of our partnership.

The Philippines welcomes Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy as a decisive step towards Canada’s more deliberate engagement in the region, including with the Philippines.

I encourage Canada’s full-spectrum engagement beyond traditional areas such as defense. The Indo-Pacific confronts its most pronounced vulnerability in global warming, which threatens the very survival of millions communities, especially in the small island developing states. Likewise, the security and resilience of the Indo-Pacific encompasses integrated issues: from climate/disaster resilience and the preservation of our ecosystems, health systems, to our supply chains, and connected digital infrastructure, as well as mechanisms of dialogue, coordination and cooperation for stewarding growth that benefits all.

I look forward to my meetings with the three Ministers of Global Affairs Canada, as well as with Immigration Minister Marc Miller, and members of Parliament who form the Canada-Philippines Inter Parliamentary Friendship Group.

I trust that these meetings will bring a fresh harvest of insights that would infuse a new energy to our partnership, possibly along these lines:

Firstly, greater synergy, sustainability and impact in our programs, to grow new spheres of bilateral cooperation such as space, clean energy, and climate action, but also to strengthen existing ones, such as defense, trade and maritime security.

Secondly, a stronger sense of common purpose in the context of our shared responsibility as regional and global actors to preserve and prosper the conditions for peace, justice and equality among nations, but also fairness, inclusivity and accountability in the UN and multilateralism at large. We can tap the momentum from the recent elevation of ASEAN-Canada dialogue relations to a strategic partnership.

Thirdly, ambition. When she visited Manila a year ago, Minister Joly conveyed to the President the sense of Canada that now is “the time for ambition.” In response to this, the President stated, then “let’s get to work.” These words I consider as my marching orders from the President for this visit.

Dear friends:

I find it useful to frame the Philippine foreign policy agenda in the context of our trajectory to become an upper middle income economy soon and – in the longer term – to realize the national aspiration for all Filipinos to enjoy strongly-rooted, comfortable and secure lives by 2040.

Having outperformed all major Asian economies in 2023, the government aims for a GDP growth of 6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2024, International institutions place the Philippines among the fastest-growing large emerging markets, on track to become a one trillion-dollar economy, one of the 8 biggest in the Asia Pacific by 2033. Analysts also flag the Philippines as the 17th biggest consumer market in the world by 2030 and one of the fastest-growing economies in 2050.

It is the goal of our foreign policy to help ensure that the Philippines delivers this promise, to our people first of all, and also as our contribution to sustained global prosperity and the well-being of people and planet.

We are as invested as Canada and other friends and partners in making the Indo-Pacific remain as an engine of global growth and a hub for human flourishing.

Especially in the midst of global uncertainties and the evolving geopolitical dynamics, we are dedicated as ever in playing our role in keeping our region on the path of peace and prosperity.

Let me conclude my remarks by recalling President Marcos’ words in New York in 2022, about “the Philippines (having) always been an optimistic and courageous nation” As I noted earlier, the Philippines spoke at the negotiations on the UN Charter for peoples and nations that were still then under the yoke of colonialism, for their independence and right to self-determination. We did the same during the framing of the UN Declaration on Human Rights more than 75 years ago. Our principled positions stand on the rock of our legacy as the First Asian Republic.

Canada can rely on this optimism and courage of the Philippines as a friend and partner, as we march onwards to the next 75 years of our diplomatic relations.

Thank you.