PH Participates in Workshop on Promoting Cooperation in Ensuring Just, Humane Treatment of Fishermen in the South China Sea

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Junever M. Mahilum-West during the online workshop.

MANILA 06 November 2020 – The Philippines participated in an online workshop on promoting cooperation between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to ensure the just and humane treatment of fishermen in the South China Sea held on 3 November 2020.

The workshop is a confidence-building activity implemented under the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Signed in 2002, the DOC embodies ASEAN and China’s commitment to promote peace, stability, and mutual trust, and to ensure the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.

The workshop was proposed by ASEAN chair, Viet Nam, to implement the DOC and benefit the region’s fishing communities, who comprise a major group of sea-going persons in the South China Sea.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Junever M. Mahilum-West represented the Philippines at the workshop together with Lieutenant Commander Mary Leizl Barbero of the Philippine Coast Guard.

LCDR Barbero was among those who spoke on international, regional, and national legal frameworks on the treatment of fishermen. She expounded on “National Legal Framework of the Philippines Pertinent to Security, Safety, and Treatment of Fishermen at Sea Regarding Fisheries, Particularly on the Safety of Life at Sea.”

Other topics discussed were dangerous and distressing situations facing fishermen, including natural disasters and hazards, and piracy and transnational crimes, among others. Speakers also exchanged views on bilateral, regional, and international cooperation on ensuring just and humane treatment of fishermen.

ASEAN has repeatedly expressed its commitment to come up with an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea that is consistent with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS. The Philippines is the current country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations. END

Lieutenant Commander Mary Leizl Barbero of the Philippine Coast Guard participates in the online workshop.