DND vows ‘rules-based order’ in Asean region

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.  (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of the country’s chairmanship in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday said the Department of National Defense (DND) will continue to uphold a rules-based regional order for the peace and resilience in the region.

Teodoro made the remark to commemorate the Asean’s 58th Anniversary  and the 2025 Asean Month. The regional organization was established on August 8, 1967. 

“As the Philippines prepares to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026, the DND reaffirms its resolve to advance practical cooperation and uphold a rules-based regional order in support of a peaceful and resilient Southeast Asia,” Teodoro said in a statement.

Teodoro also said the DND “takes pride” in the achievements of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM-Plus “in encouraging trust, transparency, and interoperability among defense forces, which have strengthened our ability to respond to humanitarian crises, counter security threats, and safeguard vital sea lanes, including those in the West Philippine Sea.”

READ: Teodoro laments Asean’s ‘absence of unanimity on key issues’

Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship will end in a few months, to be succeeded by the Philippines with the negotiations of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea unlikely to be finished within Kuala Lumpur’s term.

Asean Member States and China have been engaged in the code of conduct negotiations since March 2018. 

Aside from the Philippines and Malaysia, Asean member states such as Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam are also claimants of Spratly Islands inside the South China Sea, with China claiming it almost entirely.

Parts of South China Sea inside the western section of the country’s exclusive economic zone are locally referred to as West Philippine Sea. (Louie Mark Reyes, Inquirer.net, intern) /gsg