President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyte on Friday agreed to uphold international rules-based order in the pursuit of peace and security.
Both leaders made a stand as they shared their challenges with their neighbors. The Philippines and China are at odds over the West Philippine Sea, while Lithuania has the same with Russia.
“Over a hundred of years that we have been in contact in informal trade that has been going on. It’s still not balanced…all we want really, is the promotion of peace and the national interest,” President Marcos told Prime Minister Simonyte in a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the President’s working visit in Singapore.
“I don’t work for Beijing, I don’t work for Washington, I don’t work for Moscow. I work for Manila. I work for the Philippines and that’s what I need to promote,” he told the Lithuanian PM.
“And the only way that we can navigate through all of these is to find ourself, plant ourself very clearly within international law, and within the rules-based order, within the agreements that most nations are made, with one another when it comes to the resolution of these kind of differences,” President Marcos added.
He noted that some countries have made alliances with other countries, so together they can provide a stronger voice in support of the law, and in support of sovereignty.
“And that we promote peace,” President Marcos stressed adding “(t)hat’s what we are trying to promote.”
Prime Minister Simonyte, in response, said she fully supported President Marcos’ statement. “Absolutely. I think that, you know, small states matter. That will be my message tomorrow on the panel but not only small states matter, international law matter because this is a safety network for small states,” she said.
President Marcos stressed the principles remain the same and that the Philippines promote what is based in international law and rules-based order.
President Marcos said the world has changed in a way that “you can no longer isolate” the effects of (war) in Russia, around the world.
But the effects are very well felt, President Marcos said, “it’s almost impossible but now it is now regional issues, they eventually impact the unexpected places which are very, very far away.”
Among the topics the two leaders were scheduled to talk about during their meeting were political cooperation, economic cooperation, regional and global issues, including the Indo-Pacific region. PND
