FSI launches Law of the Sea Academy for ASEAN Diplomats
MANILA 04 October 2024 – In celebration of the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo), the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) launched its newest learning program, the Law of the Sea Academy for ASEAN Diplomats (LSA ASEAN). The program ran from 16 to 18 September 2024 at the Seda BGC Hotel in Taguig City. The Institute welcomed delegates from ASEAN countries and Timor Leste from abroad and their Embassies in Manila. The program also included participants from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), National Security Council (NSC), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine Air Force (PAF), University of Philippines – Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS), and the media.
The Course aimed to strengthen the participants’ foundational knowledge on the 1982 UNCLOS, dispute settlement mechanism, maritime boundary delimitation, and management of ocean resources. It provided an opportunity to promote understanding of the region’s interests as a strategic maritime space, providing opportunities to strengthen regional cooperation. The roster of experts for this program included Dr. Jay L. Batongbacal, Director of the University of the Philippines – Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UP IMLOS); Ambassador (ret.) Gilberto G.B. Asuque, Board Member of the Maritime Law Association of the Philippines; Dr. Ben S. Malayang III, Professor Emeritus and former President of Silliman University; Dr. Wilfredo Roehl Y. Licuanan, Director of the Br. Alfred Shields FSC Ocean Research Center, De La Salle University; Dr. Rhodora Azanza, Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines – Marine Science Institute (UP MSI); Atty. Benjamin Felipe S. Tabios, Jr., former Assistant Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; 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) 2023.
The program had a special focus on the health of coral reefs, fisheries, and harnessing the blue economy in ASEAN. It also included the introduction of science diplomacy as an approach to management of ocean resources. There were robust exchanges from experts and the participants, appreciating the context of the international law of the sea with regard to its relevance, functions, and principles.
Dr. Jay L. Batongbacal, who is included among the UNESCO/IOC List of Experts for UNCLOS Annex VIII Special Arbitration on Marine Scientific Research, emphasized that: “There is sometimes the claim that UNCLOS is a Western construct. That is not true, because UNCLOS… is a result of the interaction of interests by many states, and in the case of the EEZ, it is clearly one driven by developing states.”
By the end of his lecture, NAMRIA Deputy Administrator Efren P. Carandang reminded that: “Overlapping maritime zones are geographical realities that must be taken in a positive light; they should be seen as an opportunity for cooperation rather than a source of dispute.”
FSI’s LSA ASEAN aims to become the premier platform for maritime experts and practitioners to empower participants from ASEAN member-states to have a better appreciation and understanding of the international law of the sea and the current opportunities and challenges in the region’s maritime issues. END