26 July 2016 - The Philippines called on the members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to fully respect legal and diplomatic processes in addressing the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea (SCS/WPS) disputes at the Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane, Laos PDR on July 26.

The Philippines emphasized that the landmark July 12 Award is binding and upholds the primacy of international law as the cornerstone of a rules-based regional and international order covering all nations, large and small. The rule of law provides a good basis for a rules-based approach for resolving the SCS/WPS disputes.

During their deliberations, many of the ARF members joined the Philippines in calling for the peaceful settlements of disputes including full respect for legal and diplomatic processes.

The ARF comprises of the 10 ASEAN Member countries and 17 other non-ASEAN member countries whose objective is to promote cooperation in addressing regional and international challenges including violent extremism and serious developments in the SCS.

In 2017, the Philippines will Chair the ARF, the Asia-Pacific premier forum on security issues, which gathers all ASEAN member states and partners including the United States, European Union, Japan, Australia and China. END