Ex-DFA chief Manalo vows to pursue WPS interest in the UN

Former Foreign Affairs secretary Enrique Manalo on Wednesday committed to pursue the country’s interest in the West Philippine Sea should his nomination as Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York be confirmed. 

During the consideration of his nomination by the Commission on Appointments committee on foreign affairs, Manalo was asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros how he can continue to build international support at the UN for the Philippines’ cause amid China’s continued aggression in the WPS. 

“What I intend to do, if I'm able to assume that role, is to continue many of the activities that we have been pursuing in the past few years, precisely to promote not only the 2016 arbitral award, but to promote Philippine interest in connection with the West Philippine Sea,” the former chief of the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

“One of the main areas that we intend to pursue and continue pursuing of course, is to promote more, greater adherence among countries to the importance of maintaining a rules-based order and the importance of adherence to international law,” he added. 

The Philippine government sued China before an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague in 2013. It ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea. 

China, however, rejected the Philippines' call to comply with the 2016 arbitration ruling, calling the decision "illegal and invalid.”

Manalo also underscored the importance of gathering support not only from powerful countries, but also the Philippines’ partners in the south such as those in Africa and Latin America. 

“I really think that no country can really object to the importance of promoting international law, especially countries from the south…Because it’s on that basis that the smaller or middle income countries, only on the basis of rule of law, that we can really promote our interest and that we cannot afford to have an international system which does not have a rules basis to work,” he explained. 

The CA Committee on Foreign Affairs has endorsed the nomination of Manalo and the ad interim appointments of other foreign service officials at the DFA, and has recommended them to the plenary. —AOL, GMA Integrated News