KEYNOTE ADDRESS OF
THE HON. MA. TERESA P. LAZARO
SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
9th Year of the Arbitral Victory: Defending the Rules-Based Order through Reinforced Defense Capabilities and Partnerships
11 July 2025
Your Excellency Ambassador HK Yu,
Mr. Dindo Manhit and the Stratbase Family,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Magandang umaga po inyong lahat!
First of all, congratulations to our good friends at Stratbase and the Australian Embassy for hosting this annual conference, which has contributed to the better understanding and recognition of the value of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.
I take distinct pleasure during this event in delivering my first keynote remarks on Philippine maritime perspectives in my new position as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. After all, the Award is a cornerstone of Philippine maritime policy along with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). I want to emphasize that they will remain so under my watch.
The organizers chose such a thought-provoking theme for this event – “Defending the Rules-Based Order through Reinforced Defense Capabilities and Partnerships” – because clearly the rules-based order is the lynchpin of peace and security in the West Philippine Sea, the South China Sea, and in the wider Indo-Pacific.
In asserting our rights and entitlements, and meeting our duties and obligations, the Philippines has long been and will continue to be a firm advocate for the rules-based order governed by international law, especially in the maritime domain.
Which is why it is important to continue making the international community more aware and appreciative of the validity, legal clarity and the inspiration provided by the South China Sea Arbitration.
The Arbitration and its Award are shining affirmations of the compulsory dispute resolution mechanisms of UNCLOS. It is already an unassailable part of the corpus of international law and has been cited by the International Tribunal in the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in their advisory opinion on climate change last year, as well as by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in their ruling on the Gabon vs. Equatorial Guinea case on sovereignty and maritime delimitations earlier this year.
The Award not only sets reason and right in the South China Sea, but is like a lighthouse that guides how maritime matters and concerns in the region ought to be addressed. It is a telling reminder to the world that all countries regardless of size, might or capacity must meet their duties and obligations, especially under UNCLOS, including compliance with rulings by its legitimate tribunals and bodies.
Nine years hence, its legitimacy continues to be tested, challenged and subverted, putting not only the Philippines’ maritime interests in peril, but also the regional stability and prosperity we are all working so hard to achieve.
It is worrisome that China has continued to reject the binding Arbitral Award and persists with illegal, coercive, and aggressive actions under cover of a revisionist, self-serving interpretation and application of international law, particularly UNCLOS.
So we must ask, what can the Philippines do to protect its rights, uphold international law and defend a rules-based order?
Certainly, reinforcing our defense and security capabilities is important. Building our national capacities is essential in enabling our authorities to assert, protect and defend our interests.
In this regard, we acknowledge the efforts of our colleagues in the defense and security sector in pursuing the country’s self-reliant defense posture program and the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) to enable effective responses to challenges in our maritime zones.
But at the same time, the President has been very consistent and unequivocal in saying that the Philippines will be a paragon for the peaceful settlement of disputes. As such, I believe that galvanizing the rules-based order and promoting the Arbitral Award rests equally, if not primarily, with diplomacy.
Deterrence is not only a military concept, but one that indispensably involves guarantees secured by diplomacy to assure peace and stability.
Towards this direction, Philippine maritime statecraft will be built on four dynamics:
First is the dynamic effort to strongly advocate adherence to international law, particularly UNCLOS and the Arbitral Award. It is an advocacy that must go hand-in-hand with faithful implementation of the law’s provisions and processes.
The Philippines not only cites UNCLOS as the legal framework for all maritime activities and the cornerstone of global ocean governance, we also call on all states to comply with decisions rendered through its compulsory dispute settlement mechanisms and respect the advisory opinions that provide legal clarity.
Our submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and to the IHO-GEBCO Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names (SCUFN) are consistent with what the rules provide. We have also thrown our full support behind the BBNJ Agreement, and continue to work hard to be among the first 60 countries to ratify the treaty.
And, of course, the Philippines has shown that it truly practices what it preaches with its enactment of the landmark and UNCLOS-compliant Philippine Maritime Zones Act and Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act. We are also pushing towards the standard naming of the 131 features in the Kalayaan Island Group. And we aim to convene an international consultation workshop on our designated archipelagic sea lanes within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
I must also underscore the fact that our national maritime policy is not merely focused on the West Philippine Sea, but rather covers our entire archipelago and all our maritime zones. Everything we do in our national maritime space is based on our unwavering commitment as a responsible coastal state that adheres to UNCLOS.
Second is the dynamic approach to keep lines of communication open bilaterally, both with China and with other ASEAN claimant states.
It is a strategic consideration that we continue the dialogue and consultation with China, even amidst tensions that severely impact the bilateral relationship. Our two countries have long-standing history and deeply ingrained cultural ties. Thus, our diplomacy will continue to firmly protest and disagree where it is right, but also collaborate where it is practical and beneficial for the country.
We will continue to use the Foreign Ministry Consultations (FMC), the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea (BCM-SCS) and the bilateral Consular Consultations Mechanism with China in order to maintain dialogue and diplomacy at the appropriate official levels that is in good faith, has a proper and conducive environment, and can enable the constructive management of differences without prejudicing our national position.
Our effective diplomacy with our Chinese counterparts has resulted in several pragmatic solutions and positive outcomes, such as the Provisional Understanding on the rotation and resupply (RORE) missions to the BRP Sierra Madre. And we are now in the process of developing non-sensitive areas of cooperation between our coast guards and our scientific and technical institutions.
Likewise, our dynamic bilateral diplomacy involves close engagement with each of our fellow ASEAN claimant states in the South China Sea, namely Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Viet Nam.
These ASEAN claimant interactions have served as a useful foundation for our meaningful participation in the negotiations to conclude an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea that we envision to be effective and substantive, and which we are all committed to conclude by next year.
With the Philippines’ upcoming chairship of ASEAN in 2026, our policy priorities will continue to be anchored on ASEAN centrality, which continues to serve as the guiding principle for developing solutions and approaches among ASEAN and with its partners, including on maritime and marine concerns.
Third is our unstinting drive to leverage alliances and partnerships, and to help revitalize the energy of multilateralism.
If we can engage our most challenging relationships, then surely we can produce effective strategic outcomes with our allies, partners and other like-minded countries. We are constantly looking to create a tapestry of multilateral and bilateral engagements that bolsters our positions and broadens our capacities.
The Philippines’ partnerships have already paid dividends, as seen with our deepening cooperation with treaty allies and traditional security partners. We now have several visiting forces agreements, 11 bilateral maritime dialogues (such as with Australia, one of our most important maritime partners), a trilateral maritime dialogue, and a growing number of countries that join our multilateral maritime cooperative activities.
All of these demonstrate that the Philippines does not stand alone, and can rely on its partners in order to maintain regional peace and security.
Fourth, Philippine diplomacy can play an energetic role to support domestic capacity-building.
Because of the intrinsic nature of our work, the Department helps open doors for the capacity-building programs of our defense and security agencies. Already, leveraging our partnerships through diplomacy has paid dividends to the country’s defense and security capacities. Several of our maritime dialogue partners have already directly contributed to the Philippines’ efforts to improve our maritime domain awareness capability and response.
You can count on our Department to continue our steadfast support to the national effort to improve the capacity of our defense department, military, coast guard and other key security agencies.
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The challenges are clear and the uncertainties remain in the maritime domain, but the Philippines will not waver in firmly rejecting attempts to undermine the Award and international law.
Being on the right side of the rules-based order and international law makes it easier for others to join us in taking a stand and forming a tight bond that can withstand illegal and unfounded claims and aggressive actions at sea.
The waters may continue to be rough and turbulent, but together we can steady the sails and navigate through obstacles, as we defend the rules-based order in the maritime domain.
Maraming salamat po at mabuhay tayong lahat! END