Excellencies and distinguished delegates,

My delegation aligns itself with the statements delivered by Indonesia on behalf of NAM and by my own country on behalf of ASEAN.

The Philippines reaffirms that the multilateral disarmament, nonproliferation, and arms control regime is an important component of the open, inclusive, and rules-based international order that has underpinned global peace, security, and stability since the founding of the United Nations.

As the Philippines stated in his address to the General Assembly last month, this rules-based order is the ballast that stabilizes our common vessel amidst challenging global tides. We must reject and attempt to deny or redefine our common understanding of the principles that underpin this world order, particularly international law and the principles of equity and of justice.

To maintain the integrity of this regime, it is important that technical processes remain expert-driven and beyond the reach of politicization. At the same time, we must ensure that technical processes are inclusive. We therefore welcome the work of the Open-ended working group on security of and in the use of ICTs 2021-2025 and the consensus adoption of the first annual progress report of the group.

We have consistently raised our concern regarding the tabling of competing resolutions on the same subject matter, leading to fragmentation in the First Committee’s work. Rather than choosing which resolution to support, Member States often decide to support both resolutions. This often results in duplicative and competing mechanisms and processes that strain the U.N.’s finite resources. We therefore urge sponsors of such resolution to exert every effort to arrive at an agreement with other sponsors on unified resolutions. Such harmonization ensures the efficiency and effectiveness in the work of the First Committee, leading to credible and collective action that addresses outstanding issues on disarmament, peace and security in a timely manner.

I thank you, Mister Chair.