PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to embark on a state visit to Cambodia from September 7 to 9 and attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US later this month, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said yesterday.
Castro said details about the forthcoming foreign trips would come from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Seventeen lawmakers yesterday filed a resolution urging the President to introduce before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) a resolution “calling on the People’s Republic of China to respect the 2026 arbitral ruling and to cease its hostile and aggressive acts against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.”
House Resolution No. 192 was filed by a group of lawmakers led by Reps. Leila de Lima (PL, Mamamayang Liberal), Percival Cendaña and Jose Manuel Diokno of Akbayan party-list, Arlene Bag-Ao of Dinagat Islands, Edgar Erice of Caloocan City and Gerville Luistro of Batangas.
The US trip would be Marcos’ 33rd and 34th foreign trip since becoming president in 2022 and his sixth and seventh this year.
This would also be the President’s second trip to Cambodia, with the first one made from November 9 to 13, and his sixth to the US. He first visited the US in September 2022 and addressed the UN. His last visit was an official visit last July.
“Although not legally binding, the UNGA Resolutions carry significant political weight and serve as expressions of the will and consensus of the international community, with the potential to shape international norms, influence national policies, and provide guidance for the work of other UN organs, specialized agencies, and regional organizations,” the resolution said.
The resolution was filed as the President is set to participate in the UNGA next month.
De Lima said their group filed the resolution as tensions have been rising in the West Philippine Sea as “China has been persistent and relentless in her hostile and aggressive acts.”
HR 192 urges the Executive Department, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), “to introduce a Resolution before the UNGA calling on the People’s Republic of China to respect the 2016 arbitral ruling and to cease its repeated hostile and aggressive acts against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).”
The resolution echoed the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling declaring China’s nine-dash line claim has no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (Unclos) “if they exceed the maritime entitlements allowed by the Convention.”
“Almost a decade after the Philippines’ victory in the PCA, the PRC has failed to respect and comply with the said ruling. Worse, in direct defiance of the PCA’s 2016 ruling, the PRC has consistently conducted hostile and dangerous naval, coast guard and aerial operations throughout the WPS,” it said.
