Duterte calls on world leaders to multilateralism on COVID response, climate action during East Asia Summit

President Rodrigo Duterte has urged leaders from other East and Southeast Asian nations to enhance multilateralism on COVID-19 response and recovery, climate action, and peace and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region as he participated in the 15th East Asia Summit (EAS) on Saturday.

"One thing is clear – no country can address these issues on its own. The fate of the powerful can no longer be separated from those of the weak," the President told leaders in an open dialogue during the summit attending through videoconference.

"This is our reality today. We must act with a greater sense of shared responsibility and common destiny," he added.

According to Duterte, while countries differ in their national priorities, they share enough interests to get them into action together.

For one, he called on ASEAN's Dialogue Partners to recommit to climate action and to lead countries towards net zero emissions.

At the same time, he also called for increased climate financing, technology transfer, and capacity building in the region in order to allow developing countries like the Philippines to build sustainable and resilient communities.

"Climate change is not just a matter of survival. It is equally a matter of justice," Duterte said.

Moreover, Duterte warned against turning the South China Sea into an arena of power rivalry amid the ongoing territorial row in the disputed areas in the region.

"The Asia-Pacific must remain a region of peace where the rule of law is supreme – where all countries are equal, neither pawns nor lackeys of any power," he said.

He likewise raised 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea, which he described as a "definitive application" of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas.

The Philippines won against China in the said landmark ruling by an international tribunal in July 2016 that invalidated Beijing’s massive claims in the South China Sea.

"We must commit to the rule of law – fully and firmly. There is simply no other acceptable basis for order in our region – but the law," Duterte said.

The East Asia Summit serves as the region's premier platform for strategic dialogue and cooperation on various issues concerning Asia-Pacific nations.

The event was participated by ASEAN leaders and those from Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and the Russian Federation, as well representatives of the United States and India.

UN Secretary General António Guterres and World Bank president David Malpas also joined as guests of the ASEAN chair Vietnam. — Erwin Colcol/RSJ, GMA News