President Duterte might raise the Recto Bank issue at the coming summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand as part of talks on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, a ranking foreign affairs official said yesterday. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Junever Mahilum-West said the Philippines may be allowed an “opening” to discuss the matter during the exchange of views on regional developments. The Philippines is coordinator of the ASEAN-China dialogue partnership from 2018 to 2021. “And in these negotiations, incidents like what happened to our fishermen will be among those on the agenda, during the negotiations,” Mahilum-West said.

Lee-Brago, P., & Laude, J. (2019, June 19). DFA: Duterte might discuss Recto Bank incident at Asean. The Philippine Star, p. 7.