Marcos eyes discussing West Philippine Sea with Xi Jinping

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he was hoping to discuss issues in the West Philippine Sea with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Cambodia.

According to GMA Integrated News' Mariz Umali, Marcos made the remark in an interview with reporters on the presidential flight en route to Phnom Phen, where he and several other leaders will attend the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits and Related Summits.

"Those kinds of discussions, especially with the West Philippine Sea, I’m hoping to do that with the Chinese President," he added.

"Hopefully, ‘yun ang magiging isang subject matter na pag-usapan namin. It’s impossible for me to talk to China without mentioning that,” Marcos said.

Asked if he would push for Filipino fishermen's rights in the area, Marcos said the parties would have to find a way to resolve the issue.

“The code of conduct is medyo natutulog eh. It’s not really moving forward. Maybe we can do it using that, the code of conduct that is being proposed already,” Marcos said.

"But to do that, we have to first status quo everything and that’s what the code of conduct will do, to leave things as status quo. The first declaration that we had also said that. That no changes. Pero marami ng nagbago, that’s why we need this new code of conduct," he added.

The Philippines is among the claimants of the territorial waters believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves. Other ASEAN countries staking claims are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam.

Marcos Jr. said the ten-member ASEAN should find an “area of consensus” on the issue, adding maintaining the “status quo” is vital in the resolution of the dispute.

China asserts historical ownership of nearly 90 percent of the waters based on historical accounts.

In July 2016, an international arbitral court in The Hague, Netherlands invalidated China’s historical claim over the South China Sea. The decision angered Beijing, which refused to participate in the arbitration initiated by the Philippine government in 2013.

While ignoring the ruling, China has continued to beef up its presence in the contested territories, drawing concerns from countries, including the US, Japan, and Australia.

Marcos arrived in the Cambodian capital at 6:43 p.m. local time. —Sundy Locus/NB, GMA News