Amid sea row with China, PHL gets seat in UN agency on maritime policies

Amid China’s massive island building in the South China Sea, the Philippines was elected to a key United Nations policy-making body that crafts guidelines on promoting marine biodiversity, protection of oceans and international cooperation on disaster risk management.

In recent elections held at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris, the country was selected to serve a two-year term from 2015 to 2017 in the 40-member Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Executive Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

IOC is recognized through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as an authority in the field of marine science.

The Council exercises the responsibilities delegated to it by the UN Assembly, acting on its behalf in the implementation of the decisions. It holds two ordinary sessions during the two-year interval between ordinary sessions of the Assembly.

Manila’s election to the council came amid China’s vast and rapid reclamation activities in seven disputed features in the South China Sea.

China's reclamation, the Philippines said, has damaged up to 300 hectares of reefs.

The Philippines, locked in long-running territorial disputes with China over some areas in the resource-rich waters, was the first country to point out the ecological damage caused by China’s reclamation of formerly submerged features in the waters.

Philippine Representative Dr. Gil Jacinto, in his intervention, said that as an archipelagic state located in the center of the world’s marine biodiversity, the Philippines attaches great importance to the IOC.

He reaffirmed the country’s commitment to supporting the IOC’s unique role in fostering international cooperation in ocean sciences and capacity-building.

The Philippines last became a member of the IOC Executive Council during the period 2003-2005.

Its re-engagement with IOC, the DFA said, “will further strengthen the Philippines’ capacity in ocean science, tsunami early warning, and disaster risk reduction and management.”

Established in 1960 as a body with functional autonomy within the UNESCO, the DFA said the IOC’s purpose is to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programs in research, services and capacity-building.

“It helps in the decision-making processes of its member-states on the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas and to apply that knowledge for the improvement of management, sustainable development, and the protection of the marine environment,” the DFA said. -NB, GMA News