JAKARTA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “must never allow the international peaceful order to be subjected to the forces of might, applied for a hegemonic ambition” in the South China Sea.

Marcos Jr. urged the regional bloc to give its “support for the operationalization of practical measures… for maritime interaction.”

While he did not directly mention China in his speech during the Retreat Session in the 43rd ASEAN Summit, the President called out nations that were peddling “misleading narratives“ in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines firmly rejects misleading narratives that frame the disputes in the South China Sea solely through the lens of strategic competition between two powerful countries,” Marcos Jr. said.

“This not only denies us of our independence and our agency, but it also disregards our own legitimate interests,” he said.

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Manila recently rejected Beijing's new "standard map" that showed its extended territorial claims, including parts of the West Philippine Sea.

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The Philippines, under Marcos Jr., also slammed China for its incursions in the West Philippine Sea, even after an international arbitration court invalidated its sweeping claims in the waterway in 2016.

Beijing has repeatedly accused the United States of allegedly using its strategic alliance with the Philippines to further its interests in the waterway where billions-worth of goods pass through annually.

China has been engaging with ASEAN to craft a code of conduct in the South China Sea. But a document that would ease tensions in the strategic waterway has yet to be produced after two decades of dialogues.

Instead, Beijing militarized reefs and conducted economic activities within the exclusive economic zones of several ASEAN members.

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“We cannot emphasize enough that actions, not words should be the ultimate measure of our commitment to ensuring peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Marcos Jr. said.

“Anything else simply does not suffice,” he added.

Marcos Jr. urged other Southeast Asian leaders to operationalize the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting guidelines for maritime interaction, and expand it to the regional bloc’s partners in due time.

“History will ultimately judge whether the supremacy of the rule of law prevails, ushering in an era where all nations truly stand as equals independent and unswayed by any single outside power,” he said.

“The challenge for us remains: that we must never allow the international peaceful order to be subjected to the forces of might, applied for a hegemonic ambition,” he said.

Marcos Jr. clarified that the Philippines “does not seek conflict” and “will continue to work with all the countries to foster a rules-based international order.”

“We do not seek conflict, but it is our duty as citizens and leaders to always rise to meet any challenge to our sovereignty, sovereign rights and our maritime jurisdictions in the South China Sea,” he said.

“No country would expect any less, no country would do any less,” the Philippine leader said, as he called upon “all parties for self-restraint on activities that complicate disputes in the South China Sea.”

“As tensions and mistrust between the great powers escalate, so too does the prospect of miscalculation that threatens to engulf the region with the severest consequences for all of us,” Marcos Jr. said.

“The future of peace rests now on how we face together the challenge to that peace.”

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