Thank you, Mr President.

Let me, first of all, congratulate you on your election. We are confident that under your leadership, together with the Bureau, we will have a very productive meeting.

As our constitution for the oceans, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is one of our most significant achievements in international law. It is unique, because it is the only multilateral treaty – apart perhaps from that of the World Trade Organisation – that prescribes mandatory jurisdiction for disputes arising from its interpretation and application.

The framers of UNCLOS began by crafting its very first preambular paragraph, and I quote, “Prompted by the desire to settle, in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation, all issues relating to the law of the sea and aware of the historic significance of this Convention as an important contribution to the maintenance of peace, justice and progress for all peoples of the world.”

Clearly, UNCLOS is central to global and regional peace, cooperation and stability, in our just and sustainable use of marine natural resources.

Mr President, we thank President Vladimir Golitsyn for his concise yet comprehensive presentation earlier.

Today, the Philippines reaffirms its support for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. We recall its landmark 2012 judgment on Dispute concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, which is the first maritime boundary delimitation case that it decided.

We continue to follow its judicial work with great interest, as well as the appointment by the President of arbitrators in arbitral proceedings under Annex VII of UNCLOS.

For the Philippines, the rules-based approach in UNCLOS is the way forward in addressing maritime disputes, including in our own region. We call on those involved in disputes in and beyond our seas and oceans to consider resorting to the available dispute settlement mechanism in UNCLOS, in order to peacefully settle their disputes.

In this regard, we wish to echo previous speakers like the European Union in calling on States Parties to participate in UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanisms, including arbitration under Annex VII whenever such compulsory arbitration is invoked, in order to peacefully settle disputes.

Finally, the Philippines cannot overstate the importance of capacity-building, particularly in the area of dispute settlement. For this reason, the Philippines will be making a modest contribution to the Voluntary Trust Fund to assist States in the settlement of disputes through the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Thank you, Mr President.