In a press briefing after leading the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that the establishment of the ASEAN Maritime Centre is about freedom of navigation in Southeast Asia — not the situation in the South China Sea.

“What we are looking for, or what is the ultimate reason for having this Maritime Centre is not to confront or not to somehow push back on any single force or any single country,” the Philippine Chief Executive said.

“The idea of the Maritime Centre is to make a cohesive organization that will put together all the efforts of all the different countries, ASEAN and even other countries outside of ASEAN, who have an interest, who are stakeholders,” the President added.

The establishment of the ASEAN Maritime Centre is a product of Philippine efforts towards safe navigation between ASEAN nations as part of the ASEAN Declaration of Maritime Cooperation.

Earlier, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro underscored the importance of the Declaration to recognize the multi-dimensional nature of maritime issues in the region and enhance the coordination among ASEAN Member States.

The ASEAN Declaration of Maritime Cooperation is in line with the ASEAN Vision 2045, which is set to establish the Connectivity Pillar that will enhance all existing community pillars, namely economic, foreign, and socio-cultural.

But rather than just solving the maritime issues of the region, the ASEAN Maritime Centre aims to establish ease of trade in the South China Sea and avoid problems such as that experienced in the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East conflict.

“As we all know, a large percentage of world trade goes through the South China Sea. And as has been demonstrated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz – the Strait of Hormuz is 20% of the entire oil supply of the world. And we are all very aware of the effects of that,” the Philippine President said.

“But if such a thing would happen in the South China Sea, the inevitable consequences would be alarming, just to even think about.”

President Marcos assured that the ASEAN Maritime Centre is a big step forward to a safer and more secure cooperation and coordination between ASEAN Member States.

“And I am very optimistic that it will in fact be established. And the discussions that we had progressed very, very quickly. There was a very wide consensus amongst members of the things that need to be done and how we need to do it,” the Philippine Chief Executive said.

“So, again, this is a new concept. And that’s why we still have to put the structure in place, the framework in place. We have to put the vision, mission in place.”