Manila to explore trade ties under ASEAN, RCEP, APEC

THE Philippines will continue exploring trade partnerships under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other frameworks, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said on Monday.

“By leveraging our collective strengths, we can advance initiatives that ensure supply chain security, counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and insurgency, and create an environment where trade can thrive,” he said in his speech at the Philippine Strategic Trade Management Summit at Taguig City, which was streamed live on Facebook.

“We will continue to upgrade industry standards, modernize regulations and establish linkages through various trade and investment frameworks such as the ASEAN, APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), RCEP… All these so that we can see a more competitive region in the future,” he added.

In March 2022, the Philippines ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, which seeks to prevent illegal gun trading and regulate conventional firearms trade. It took effect three months later.

The country enacted the Strategic Trade Management bill in 2015, which set up the Department of Trade and Industry Strategic Trade Management Office. The office issues import and export permits for conventional weapons.

Mr. Marcos said his government is working on improving border control by training import and export officers in monitoring and inspecting these weapons effectively.

“As a crucial tool in our endeavor to uphold global peace and security, the Strategic Trade Management Act allows us to regulate dual-use goods and technologies to prevent their misuse, while encouraging lawful trade that benefits us all,” he said.

Last year, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo said Manila would push the creation of international guidelines on the ethical use of autonomous systems powered by artificial intelligence, noting that improper use could risk innocent lives.

In July, the Philippines renewed its call for North Korea to keep the peace in the Indo-Pacific region and to pursue dialogue in the Korean Peninsula.

Manila condemned Pyongyang’s missile test that month, saying it undermined peace, stability and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific region and Korean Peninsula.

Autonomous weapons are programmed to kill a specific target. The weapon is deployed to an environment where its AI searches for the target using sensor data such as facial recognition, according to autonomousweapons.org.

The country’s top diplomat has said the Philippines is eyeing a nonpermanent seat in the 15-member UN Security Council next year, citing Manila’s peace-building efforts.

“The rapid pace of advancement demands us to be more agile, more responsible, and it requires us to address both the speed and dual use nature of these new technologies,” Mr. Marcos said.

“It is about upholding the rule of law, protecting our people and contributing to global peace and security,” he added. — John Victor D. Ordoñez