MANILA: The Philippines will see to it that maritime security remains a priority of Asean, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said on Friday (March 6), Philippines News Agency (PNA) reported.
"As the Asean chair (this year), the Philippines will work to ensure that maritime security remains central to Asean centrality.
"We will explore mechanisms that enable a more coherent, coordinated, and integrated approach to maritime governance," Año said at the Stratbase Institute forum, "Safeguarding the Maritime Domain of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific."
He added that the Philippines will do its best to advance practical cooperation in maritime domain awareness, strengthen maritime exercises, and reinforce principled language anchored in international law.
"Asean centrality must be principled and grounded in respect for sovereignty and the peaceful settlement of disputes," Año said, adding that developments beyond the Asean region reinforce the urgency of safeguarding maritime domain.
"Disruptions in key choke points elsewhere, militarisation in contested waters, and heightened cross-strait sensitivities demonstrate that maritime instability anywhere has global implications. No region is insulated from these dynamics," he added.
He also emphasised that defending maritime domain equates to defending global stability. - Bernama/PNA
