PH raises WPS concerns, pushes for equitable access to vaccines in ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting 

Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, DFA Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs, discusses the COC negotiations and calls for equitable access to vaccines in a recent virtual ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on 7 April 2021.

PASAY CITY, 9 April 2021 - Acting Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs, Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, raised the issue of the presence of Chinese maritime militia ships at Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in a meeting of ASEAN’s senior officials, as she called for an environment conducive for the negotiations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. 

“The continued deployment and lingering presence of a large swarm of  maritime militia vessels within the Philippines’ maritime zones remains a serious concern and we reiterate that a conducive environment is crucial for the COC negotiations,”  Acting Undersecretary Buensuceso emphasized during the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) held by videoconference on 7 April 2021.

Acting Undersecretary Buensuceso, who is also the Philippine ASEAN SOM Leader,  reiterated that the Philippines, as current country coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, remains committed to move forward the COC negotiations between ASEAN Member States and China, highlighting the importance of the sincere support and cooperation of all parties involved in achieving this goal.

“As we exert efforts in realizing an effective and substantive COC, we urge all parties to adhere to the rule of law and exercise self-restraint in line with the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South and China Sea (DOC),” the Acting Undersecretary added.

She said that actions that intimidate, escalate tensions, and undermine mutual trust and confidence violate sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially those that run counter to international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). She added that these actions also impede the progress and momentum of the COC negotiations and threaten its success.

Amid the ongoing pandemic, Acting Undersecretary Buensuceso also called on ASEAN to raise its collective voice to push for equitable access to vaccines. 

“We have to raise our concern (with regard to equitable access to vaccines) in all forums,” the Filipino senior diplomat urged her ASEAN colleagues, citing the UN Human Rights Council resolution on ensuring equitable, affordable, timely and universal access by all countries to vaccines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the UN Security Council Resolution 2565 on strengthening international cooperation to facilitate equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

She said that developing countries should not be at a disadvantage when it comes to access to vaccines amid concerns for limited supplies. 

She stressed that the procurement of vaccines under the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund (CARF) is highly commendable under the current circumstances given its urgency, but ASEAN should expedite its collective vaccine procurement so as not to lag behind in efforts to achieve herd immunity in the region and to address reports of global shortage of vaccines.

The Meeting, a regular gathering of ASEAN’s senior diplomats, also discussed a wide range of issues and concerns, including updates on Brunei Darussalam’s chairmanship deliverables, ASEAN’s COVID-19 response, ASEAN Community Post-2025 Vision, review of the implementation of the ASEAN Charter, sub-regional cooperation, cross-pillar coordination, external relations, and ASEAN candidatures. END