Press Statement
of
Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr.
Foreign Affairs Secretary
in Rabat, Morocco
17 March 2022
(Photo courtesy of Philippine News Agency)
His Excellency, Minister Nasser Bourita, distinguished colleagues and members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
It is my honor to accept the invitation of His Excellency Minister Nasser Bourita to make my first official visit to the Kingdom of Morocco as Philippines’ Secretary of Foreign Affairs. On behalf of the Philippine delegation, I express our appreciation for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality accorded us by the Kingdom of Morocco. In turn, we look forward to welcoming His Excellency Minister Bourita to the Philippines at a convenient time.
In this visit, we reaffirmed both sides’ keen interest to enhance opportunities for cooperation between our countries and our peoples.
We concluded agreements related to air services, cooperation between academic foreign institutes of our ministries, political consultations, as well as a cooperation agreement between the Philippine News Agency and the Maghred Arabe Presse. We also started political consultations today between our ministries.
We commend and appreciate the vision of progress set forth by the Kingdom of Morocco through its New Development Model, utilizing an advanced integrated comprehensive approach under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. The Philippines also aims to promote development in our country so that each Filipino may enjoy a productive indeed prosperous life by 2040.
We had a productive discussion on issues that both the Philippines and Morocco are invested in; and explored the possibility of cooperation in bilateral and multilateral areas of common interest, including migration, climate change, counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, and maritime cooperation.
On the Sahara issue, we are steadfast in upholding the principle of sovereignty and sovereign equality of states enshrined in the UN Charter. All states enjoy the right to full sovereignty in all their areas of jurisdiction—in all their areas of jurisdiction I repeat. The UN Charter requires sovereign states to refrain from the use of force against the political independence and territorial integrity of any state. We are witnessing its violation elsewhere. We specially condemn—indeed I said at the UN, we abhor the use of separatism and secession as a weapon of diplomacy; they are the cruelest conflicts where neighbors turn on neighbors and know how to hurt each other most deeply. We witnessed the Balkans.
We look forward to stronger and fruitful relations between the Philippines and Morocco as we approach the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2025. May both our countries live free, both our peoples stay safe, and all of us prosper. Thank you and good day. END
(Photo courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Morocco)