President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam on January 30, 2024. KJ Rosales, PPA Pool HANOI — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked Vietnam on Tuesday for its “confirmed support” for the Philippines’ bid to get a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for 2027 to 2028.

The Philippines has been campaigning in recent years to be one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UN panel tasked to maintain international peace and security.

“The Philippines wishes to thank Vietnam for its confirmed support for the Philippines’ bid to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for the term 2027 to 2028, with a confirmed arrangement of reciprocal support with Vietnam–for Vietnam’s UNSC for the term 2020 to 2021,” Marcos Jr. said during his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh here.

“The Philippines stands ready to work with other countries towards a long-lasting resolution to the conflict in accordance with pertinent UN Security Council Resolutions and general principles of international law,” he said.

“We will strongly consider Vietnam’s upcoming candidatures for seats in international organizations,” he added.

In 2022, Marcos Jr. spoke before the UN General Assembly and sought the “valuable support of all UN member states for the Philippines' candidature to the Security Council for the term 2027-2028."

Marcos seeks UN support of PH candidature to Security Council

Securing a seat in the UN Security Council is “very important” for the Philippines, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said last year.

“We’ll be able to engage in the most important dialogues and debates and vote in important issues,” he said. “We have interests in the rule of law and international law, maintaining peace and stability.” 

“We have millions of Filipinos overseas and we need the world to continue living and aspiring for goals for which the UN was created,” he added.

The primary responsibility of the UN Security Council, composed of 15 members, is to maintain international peace and security.

The council's five permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Current temporary members include Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates.

The last time the Philippines assumed one of the elected seats in the Security Council was for the term 2004-2005.

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