A lesser-known territorial treaty between the Philippines and Indonesia could become the template for the Code of Conduct, or CoC, in the disputed waters of the South China Sea that is being claimed nearly entirely by Beijing.
Signed on 23 May 2014, after 20 years of negotiations, the treaty drew the boundary between the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries, specifically in the Mindanao Sea and the Celebes Sea.
It was the Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee on the Philippines-Indonesia Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone Boundary, chaired by Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., that handled the historic maritime pact between the two nations.
The Daily Tribune followed the proceedings every step of the way up to the deal’s approval. It was Marcos who also authored the Philippine Baselines Law, or Republic Act 9522, during his term as representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte in the House of Representatives.
The treaty entered into force on 1 August 2019. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi signed the “Protocols of Exchange” of the instruments of ratification concerning the agreement.
“This is a very important agreement with our neighbor, Indonesia,” Marcos said. He noted then that a clear demarcation of the EEZ boundaries between the two countries would not only prevent conflict between Filipino and Indonesian fishermen but would also pave the way for closer cooperation in the protection of the marine environment, increased trade, and enhanced maritime security.
Marcos cited the recent agreement as a template for a similar pact with China to ease the escalating tension arising from the territorial dispute over the West Philippine Sea. Marcos said the government need not pin its efforts on the decision to be handed down by the United Nations arbitral tribunal over the sea row because China has refused to take part in the case and had already declared that it would not follow its ruling.
“The valuable experience we had in conducting years of negotiation with Indonesia provides us with a roadmap on how to resolve our maritime territorial dispute with other countries, particularly the one with China in the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said.
The senator had been urging the government at the time to exhaust all diplomatic efforts to resolve the row with Indonesia, including bilateral and multilateral talks, back-door channels, and cultural and educational exchanges to ease the tensions between the two countries.
Successful resolution
The treaty was first discussed in June 1994 and was formally signed by the Philippines and Indonesia in 2014. Former President Rodrigo Duterte ratified it in February 2017 and the Indonesian Parliament did the same in April 2017. The Philippine Senate then concurred with Duterte’s ratification of the treaty in June 2019.
The agreement allowed Filipino and Indonesian fishermen to operate peacefully and properly in the marine area. Under the agreement, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its Indonesian counterpart, the Geospatial Information Agency, and the Hydro-Oceanographic Office of the Indonesian Navy committed to working together to determine the actual delineation of the sea points and geodetic lines between the two countries.