Hushed talks
Other than the official statement released by Malacañang Palace, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste supposedly strongly backed the Philippine position to adhere to the rules-based international laws and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in the disputed overlapping maritime claims over the South China Sea. This is not to doubt the official statement issued at the end of the one-on-one talks of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) with Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta last Friday at Malacañang.