Philippines, Vietnam to boost SCS cooperation, incident prevention

HANOI – The Philippines and Vietnam yesterday agreed to boost cooperation between their coast guards and to prevent untoward incidents in the disputed South China Sea in light of Beijing’s continued aggression in one of the world’s most important trade routes.

In separate meetings with Vietnamese President Võ V?n Th??ng and Prime Minister Ph?m Minh Chinh here yesterday morning, Marcos cited China’s “illegal actions” in the West Philippine Sea despite Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promise to de-escalate tensions in the disputed waters.

Marcos and Th??ng witnessed the exchange of notes between the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG), on maritime cooperation and understanding on incident prevention and management in the South China Sea between their ministries of foreign affairs at the Presidential Palace.

The Philippines and Vietnam also have competing claims over the South China Sea, believed to have large reserves of oil and gas.

Marcos is in Vietnam for a two-day state visit. He is scheduled to return to Manila early today.

“On the South China Sea, I am pleased that our ministries of foreign affairs have signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on incident prevention and management in the South China Sea. I hope that we can seriously implement this agreement as quickly as we can,” Marcos said during his meeting with Chinh at the Grand Hall of the Government headquarters.

On incident prevention and management in the South China Sea, the Philippines and Vietnam agreed to enhance coordination regarding maritime issues bilaterally, within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with other dialogue partners, with both sides intensifying efforts to promote trust, confidence and understanding, through dialogue and cooperative activities.

The MOU on maritime cooperation, on the other hand, seeks to strengthen the understanding, mutual trust and confidence between the two parties through development of a Joint Coast Guard Committee to discuss common issues and interests between the PCG and VCG.

“This memorandum aims to establish a comprehensive partnership between our coast guards on capacity building, training and personnel and