Timor-Leste leader backs rules-based approach in West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — Timor-Leste is backing the Philippines’ “rules-based approach” in dealing with disputes in the West Philippine Sea, President Marcos said yesterday as he hosted a bilateral meeting with Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta at Malacañang.

At a joint press briefing following a bilateral meeting, Marcos thanked Ramos-Horta for supporting the country’s position.

“With the experience of his excellency in international affairs, the many suggestions and mechanisms that he brought to light that can be of use to the Philippines when it comes to the challenges that we are presently facing in the issues regarding the South China Sea or as we refer to it, the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said.

“That is why it is with gratitude that we also have received the expressions of support from the President for the Philippines in terms of the rules – our adherence to a rules-based international law, to UNCLOS,” Marcos said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“The experience of the President has shown what the Philippines can do to further our discussion and our argument as to the continued adherence of all partners to a rules-based system and international law,” he said.

In his opening statement at their bilateral meeting, Ramos-Horta said the Philippines and Timor-Leste share a long history of solidarity and support for each other. He said the Philippines has been at the forefront in the critical years of 1999 when the then East Timor was seeking independence from Indonesia.

“You dispatched to Timor-Leste, with other countries in the region like Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and others under the Security Council mandate, so the Philippines was very prominent there through the beginning of our independence,” Ramos-Horta said.

During a state banquet hosted by Marcos, the Timor-Leste leader thanked the Philippine government’s valuable assistance in terms of defense, education, trade and fisheries that he said left a very positive impact on the lives of the Timorese and fostered “a spirit of solidarity and friendship” between the two countries.  

The Philippines and Timor-Leste agreed on Friday to work together on the