MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps and welcome sa ating pre-departure briefing ngayong araw, April 5.
Next week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will attend the first United States-Japan-Philippines Trilateral Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC alongside US President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. This summit aims to advance trilateral partnership of the three countries and reaffirm the robust alliance between the Philippines and the United States and the partnership we share with Japan.
Apart from the trilateral meeting, President Biden will also host President Marcos in the White House for a meeting concerning various areas of cooperation such as economic security, clean energy, people-to-people ties among others.
And to discuss more about the upcoming Trilateral Leaders’ Summit, we have with us today Department of Foreign Affairs Acting Deputy Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Hans Mohaimin L. Siriban. Good morning, Undersecretary Siriban.
DFA DEP. ACTING USEC. SIRIBAN: Yes, good morning also, Ms. Daphne, and good morning to the members of the Malacañang Press Corps.
As announced earlier, President Marcos, President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will hold the first ever Philippines-US-Japan Trilateral Summit on the 11th of April in Washington DC. This meeting builds upon the previous meetings held between the President, the Prime Minister Kishida and US Vice President Kamala Harris in Jakarta. There were also two previous foreign ministers meeting trilaterally and meetings with our national security advisers as well as the recent vice foreign ministers’ foreign ministerial meeting held recently last month.
The elevation of the Philippines-Japan-US partnership into this trilateral cooperation has the peace stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific at the forefront which is the basis for this trilateral process. This trilateral meeting is a natural progression of the three parties existing robust, excellent bilateral cooperation, their enduring friendship and alliance, shared values, shared interests and shared respect of the three parties for the rules-based international order – and this partnership rests on a solid foundation of trust, mutual respect and understanding.
This trilateral cooperation aims to add value to the existing and prospective areas of work especially in the economy and economic security in order to amplify and sustain the momentum of growth in the Philippines and the resilience of the Filipino people.
During the summit, the three leaders are expected to discuss their common vision for the Indo-Pacific Region, as well as explore opportunities for enhancing trilateral cooperation across various areas of mutual interest. These areas include inclusive economic growth, developing critical and emerging technologies, climate change cooperation and clean energy supply chains and promoting peace and security in the region.
The three leaders are also expected to issue a joint vision statement. This vision statement is intended to be a forward-looking document that not only identifies common principles that guide the trilateral partnership but also provide concrete areas and projects for cooperation building on the robust bilateral cooperation that we have with the United States and Japan.
Thank you very much.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you, Undersecretary. We can take questions from the audience. Mariz Umali-Tima…
MARIZ UMALI/GMA7: Good morning, sir/ma’am. How significant is this Trilateral Leaders’ Summit amidst the increasing tensions in the West Philippine Sea?
DFA DEP. ACTING USEC. SIRIBAN: Well, this summit, as I’ve said, this very summit is the first time that the three leaders will be meeting and the main purpose really of this summit is to deepen the already robust bilateral ties that we have with the US and Japan. And the main goal really is to deepen, first and foremost, the natural strengths that we’ve had, that we’ve shared over the years – Japan and the United States have been our long traditional allies and partners not only in defense and security but also in economic cooperation. So, we hope to be able to deepen these engagements even further.
And, of course, in the present environment, this trilateral summit is significant to help further promote dialogue and peace in the region. And these are countries that share the Philippines’ goal of promoting an international rules-based order and to promote peace and stability in the region.
MARIZ UMALI/GMA7: Do we also expect, when you mentioned a while ago that we expect joint vision statements coming from the three leaders, do we expect a stronger statement, from the three countries considering the increasing tensions nga po in the West Philippine Sea? We all know of the specific incident that I’m referring to, the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea where more Filipino officials or personnel have been injured and of course we’ve seen the damages that have been done to our own boats. So, are we expecting stronger statements from the three leaders?
DFA DEP. ACTING USEC. SIRIBAN: Yes, I think we can expect a discussion on the recent incidents. Of course the joint vision statement is still under discussion but we can expect an alignment of views among the three countries on the recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea. Of course, we will continue to call on peace and stability and that the recent incidents be solved in a peaceful and diplomatic manner. But, of course, we will note the recent incidents, and our three leaders are expected to include this in their discussion and in the vision statement.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you. Eden Santos…
EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Good morning, sir. With this trilateral summit, are we not really poking the bear?
DFA DEP. ACTING USEC. SIRIBAN: Here, as we’ve said in many occasions, this trilateral cooperation is not directed at any country. It is really a deepening of the existing strong bilateral alliances that we’ve had. And, of course, if you look at the areas of discussion that are being looked at, the primary focus really is on economic cooperation, building on economic resilience because I think, for the Philippines, our interest really is to build economic resilience, and bilaterally, our friends from the US and Japan have been very active in supporting us in a bilateral context.
But here we are looking at an expanded platform where we can look at synergies where our three countries can cooperate in enhancing the economic resilience of the Philippines especially in the areas of strategic and critical infrastructure.
We are also looking at cooperating to help…you know the Philippines is one of the countries most severely affected by climate change so we are looking at actions, at activities that will help address and mitigate the impact of climate change and help the Philippines adapt to climate change. So, here we are looking at clean energy, cooperation on clean energy, green energy, renewables; we’re also looking at expanding our cooperation on important industries for the Philippines such as critical minerals and semiconductors.
So, it really is—there’s a lot of focus on economic cooperation. But of course that’s not to say that we—the security environment will also have to be taken into consideration because for economic resilience and economic growth to happen we will also have to take into account the peace and security of the region. In this aspect, the trilateral cooperation also hopes to enhance cooperation in this respect.
EDEN SANTOS/NET 25: Sir, as we expecting po na after this trilateral cooperation or summit, makikita po ba natin iyong result sa pamamagitan noong mas payapang pangingisda ng ating mga kababayan dito sa West Philippine Sea at mas safe at open na paglalakbay dito sa bahagi po ng South China Sea ng iba’t ibang mga barko o ng mga sasakyan ng mga iba’t ibang bansa?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: I think that is the hope of everyone, whether or not this trilateral summit takes place or even in a bilateral context. That is our hope na magkaroon nang malayang paglalayag sa West Philippine Sea at sa ating mga karagatan.
Our hope is also that with the trilateral cooperation it will also help capacitate the Philippines in terms of more training on maritime security, training on capacity building not just training of personnel but also possibly more cooperation on equipment. It really is an integrated package, integrated suite of projects that will help enhance our capability to be interoperable with our partners, with our allies and that is our hope that this will help promote a more conducive environment to allow our people to travel and do their livelihoods in our seas.
EDEN SANTOS/NET 25: Sir, wala ba tayong plano out of this trilateral summit na bumuo ng the big three?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: Well, I think this trilateral summit is in the initial stages. We are still developing the mechanisms to cooperate on a trilateral basis but I think this trilateral cooperation should be seen as something that will help additional efforts in the region especially this trilateral cooperation supports existing mechanisms like ASEAN and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. So it will complement the existing mechanisms in the region to help promote greater peace and prosperity for all of us.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Thank you. Alvin Baltazar, Radyo Pilipinas.
ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Sir, good morning. Sir, what other activities does the President has aside from the trilateral meeting?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: I understand that before the trilateral meeting that the President will also have a bilateral meeting with President Biden. Of course, they will discuss more bilateral issues including of course one of the main objectives of the President would be on economic cooperation, economic security and of course there will also be discussions on our security cooperation and we expect these conversations which were raised in previous meetings to continue.
I also understand that he has meetings with the Defense Secretary Austin and he will also have meetings with business [sector] during his trip.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Allan Francisco, PTV 4.
ALLAN FRANCISCO/PTV-4: Hi, ma’am. Hi sir, good morning. As far as I understand po nagkaroon na ng separate meetings or na-meet na ng Pangulong Marcos sina President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister before. So my question is magkakaroon po ba ng mga follow-up or pagri-review sa mga naunang agreements or partnership or talks before?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: Lahat naman ho ng mga meetings na nangyayari, every time our head of states meet, they always follow-up ‘no, they build on earlier meetings. So, of course they have met bilaterally and what is historic in this upcoming trilateral summit meeting in Washington is that they will be meeting for the first time na silang tatlo. And I think that this is very significant, it shows the deepening of the bilateral partnership that we’ve had and that we can talk already at a trilateral basis is a good sign of the maturity of our bilateral relations.
So, mayroon siyang of course, review of the bilateral relations. Of course a number activities that we are looking at for the trilateral cooperation have their beginnings in bilateral cooperation. So, parang we are looking avenues where we can expand existing bilateral cooperation to find synergies in a trilateral context.
OSEÑA-PAEZ: Maricel Halili, TV5
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Hi sir, good morning. Sir, aside from the joint vision statement, will there be other documents that will be issued after the meeting, the trilateral meeting or are there any agreements that’s we expect to be signed?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: As far as I know for the trilateral summit, it is just joint vision statement. I cannot speak to the other meetings of the President; would have for example sa business, I would defer to my colleagues in DTI for that. But as far as the trilateral summit is concerned this joint vision statement is expected to be issued.
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Sir, just a clarification, so ang first day ni Presidente sa Washington is on April 11, and he will be staying in DC until when?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: I understand, because he has meetings until the 12, so I expect that he would be leaving soon after.
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Leaving for Manila?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: For Manila.
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Okay, thank you sir.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN.
PIA GUTIERREZ/ABS-CBN: Follow-up lang po doon sa mga questions kanina. Ito pong landmark summit, what does it say about how seriously the Philippines, US and Japan are taking the development in the South China Sea?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: I think it says that we stand for the preservation of the international rules-based order. And that for us, the Philippines, our position has always been based on UNCLOS and the Arbitral Tribunal ruling and we appreciate the support that Japan and the United States and many other countries have shown for our position. So, I think the trilateral summit reinforces the importance of keeping peace and stability in the region. And to always resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Jean Mangaluz, Inquirer.net
JEAN MANGALUZ/INQUIRER.NET: Hi. So you mentioned earlier that the meeting isn’t for any country in particular, but I think you need to acknowledge that there might be other countries who would not be happy with the meeting. So, what message do you think this meeting would send to them?
DFA ACTING DEP. USEC. SIRIBAN: I think for us the important thing is we are open, our lines of communications, our lines of dialogue and consultations have always been open. So, this applies to all the countries in the region. In fact, we have continuing dialogue with our neighbors. This trilateral summit is one of those dialogues and consultations that we have. So, our lines of communications are always open and we keep on engaging and we will keep on engaging with all the relevant stakeholders in the region.
MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, thank you very much, this conclude our pre-departure briefing today. Thank you very much, Undersecretary Siriban and maraming salamat, Malacañang Press Corps. Good morning.
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