11/09/2013
Philippine President Aquino on Tuesday rallied Navy chiefs in Southeast Asia to protect the “common seas” by ensuring freedom of navigation, which is central to the dispute in the South China Sea.
Speaking before regional Navy commanders, the President said the present times demand that countries in the region seek ways to “expand and strengthen our partnerships” around the seas.
“The early years of our civilizations, our peoples have looked at the waters that surround us and seen nautical highways to cooperation and friendship,” Aquino said.
He said the Philippines and the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have always striven to uphold “our individual sovereignty” but at the same time fostered a “strong sense of regional solidarity.”
“One that favors consensus and collaboration instead of discord, aggression and imposition,” he said at the Seventh Asean Navy Chiefs’ Meeting at a Makati hotel.
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