Marcos, Anwar agree to bring South China Sea disputes to Asean
MANILA, Philippines—Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim have agreed to bring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Anwar said on Wednesday (March 1) that he and Marcos discussed the South China Sea disputes at a bilateral meeting in Malacañang Palace.
He said he agreed with Marcos that the issue should be discussed through Asean to help in reaching an amicable resolution.
“We did discuss the South China issue and I shared President Marcos Jr.’s concern that due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue, we should try and engage and take the position at a multilateral level between Asean so that we have a comprehensive approach and achieve an amicable resolution to this outstanding problem,” Anwar said following the meeting.
The Philippines and Malaysia are claimants to parts of South China Sea, which China is claiming to be nearly entirely its own.
Anwar said he and Marcos also discussed security ties, which the Malaysian leader said remained strong, growing and needed further enhancement.
The Malaysian leader also mentioned the plight of Filipinos facing legal woes in his country, saying he had asked Philippine officials during his meeting with Marcos to collaborate with Malaysia for repatriation of the Filipinos.
“I have asked the Philippines’ assistance and cooperation to expedite the commutation of nationals so that they can be repatriated to the Philippines in a timely manner,” said Anwar.
“And I am pleased that — their willingness to facilitate this arrangement in a mutually agreed fashion,” he said.
On economic cooperation, Anwar said he reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to continue supporting and enhancing the Brunei Darussalam- Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) including hosting the Brunei- Indonesia- Malaysia- Philippines Facilitation Center.
He added that the new administration in Malaysia will be “more than happy” to further enhance collaboration and people-to-people interaction.
“Our bilateral cooperation is multi-sectoral covering trade and investment, education, health, agriculture, health, tourism and culture,” Anwar said, adding that the first generation of Malaysian professionals benefitted immensely from work at Los Baños in Laguna and some known centers of learning in the Philippines.
