MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. highlighted the role played by his late father, former president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. for the peaceful settlement of disputes among nations through the Manila Declaration in 1982.
“In 1982, we led our global community in unanimously adopting the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes,” President Marcos said in his keynote address at the opening of the 21st edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“This affirmed that differences amongst nations must always be solved peacefully, through legal and diplomatic processes, [and] never through the threat or the use of force,” he said.
These norms are under significant stress today, as the world faces a watershed moment, according to the President, pointing to the current patterns of aggression and militarization and emerging arms races threatening the region.
He said the current juncture does not call for a revision of the regional order, but instead calls for a reaffirmation of the wisdom of various documents and declarations such as the UN founding charter in San Francisco in 1945, as well as the declarations in Bangkok, and Manila in 1967 and 1982, respectively.
As to the Manila Declaration, he said: “So, let us return as well to Manila and reaffirm our common understanding of how international law governs the peaceful settlement of disputes.”
The Manila Declaration, through the initiative of former President Marcos Sr., gathered the non-aligned countries and adopted the rules of peaceful settlement of international disputes. The consensus was made 40 years ago in November 1982 that disputes should be settled in accordance with international law and common understanding on applicable principles.
It reaffirms fundamental principles of the UN Charter, among others, the obligation of all states to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
The declaration also reaffirms the obligation for all States to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the UN. (PND)
