FSI Launches Inaugural Law of the Sea Academy Summer Program
PASAY 06 May 2024 – The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) successfully launched its inaugural Law of the Sea Academy Summer Program, held from 23 to 27 April 2024 at the Development Academy of the Philippines Conference Center (DAPCC) in Tagaytay City. The program featured an all-Filipino team of experts who provided a Philippine-centric perspective on pressing maritime issues. FSI Director General Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III opened the session, with participants from the FSI, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Senate of the Philippines.
The intensive program included lectures and workshops on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 Arbitral Award initiated by the Philippines, maritime boundary delimitation, the blue economy, biodiversity management, and domestic legislations on maritime spaces. There were enriching discussions on the High Seas Treaty and vessel collisions as the Academy sought to cover varying issues related to the ocean.
The experts who shared their knowledge at the Academy included Dr. Jay L. Batongbacal, Director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (UP IMLOS); Dr. Rhodora Azanza, Professor Emeritus who pioneered the valuation of the Philippine blue economy; Dr. Ben Malayang III, Professor Emeritus who focuses on marine environmental science; and Deputy Administrator Efren Carandang of the National Mapping and Resource Information Administration (NAMRIA) who currently sits in the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), among others. Leading the roster of DFA instructors in the Academy was Assistant Secretary Marshall Louis Alferez of the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office (MOAO).
The LSA Summer Program aims to become the premier educational resource on the law of the sea for Philippine public servants, in support of a whole-of-government approach.
FSI is scheduled to convene the next session of the Law of the Sea Academy later in the year, with diplomatic officials from Southeast Asia as the targeted participants. An all-Filipino panel of experts will be expected to again lead the discussion in this iteration as part of FSI’s advocacy to promote a Philippine narrative on the important maritime issues involving the Philippines.
FSI is the training and research office of the DFA, with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs sitting as Chair of the FSI Board. END
Link to the Press Release: https://fsi.gov.ph/2024/05/01/fsi-launches-inaugural-law-of-the-sea-academy-summer-program/