'FTA will be framework of future strategic partnership' with Seoul, says Manila's top envoy

The Philippines was the fifth country to recognize Korea as a country in 1949, and the two sides have enjoyed a special relationship ever since, the top Filipino envoy said Thursday.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Enrique A. Manalo speaks during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Philippine Embassy in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

The Philippines was the fifth country to recognize Korea as a country in 1949, and the two sides have enjoyed a special relationship ever since, the top Filipino envoy said Thursday.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and Seoul and Manila have deepened their already close relationship with a free trade agreement (FTA) signed last year.

“The FTA will be a framework of a future strategic partnership between Korea and the Philippines,” said Enrique A. Manalo, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Thursday.

Manalo was visiting Seoul for meetings with Korean Foreign Ministry officials, including his counterpart Cho Tae-yul, a lecture at Seoul National University and events with Filipinos residing in Korea.

Manalo stressed the sheer number of areas in which the two countries are working together, including security and maritime cooperation in the East Asian region, and addressed the issue of Filipino caregivers in Korea — a hundred of whom arrived just this week.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. The Philippines and South Korea have celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations this year, and last year our two countries signed the Philippines-Korea FTA. How does the Philippines view its current economic partnership with South Korea, and what benefits do you anticipate from the FTA? A. I believe that over the past 75 years, our relationship has grown steadily, and it is now very solid, encompassing our cooperation in a broad number of areas, such as defense, economic ties, trade, investment and many other sectors, especially agriculture, infrastructure, tourism and people-to-people cooperation and cultural cooperation. I think this is a good indication of where we stand now, and it can only get stronger through the FTA, which we signed last year. We are hopeful that it will be ratified by our parliament within the year. And, of course, there is the strategic partnership, which we hope to conclude or officially adopt sometime later this year. All these factors strengthen our cooperation, and Korea is the number four trading partner of the Philippines. There are many direct investments from Korea in the Philippines, too.

With the FTA, one can expect this will further increase cooperation, especially in terms of creating more trade by lowering tariffs, not only on automobiles or automatic parts but also investment opportunities that will be created in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, health and renewable energy. That is the importance of the FTA, and if we can agree on that by the end of the year, it will be the framework of a strategic partnership.

On July 21, the Philippines and China announced that the two countries had reached an “understanding” that they hope will end a string of dangerous confrontations at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Could you please tell us in detail about how this understanding was achieved and what it means for security in the East Asian region? First of all, that was a provisional understanding on a very specific issue regarding the resupply missions to our ship, the BRP Sierra Madre. Over the past year, there have been a number of incidents where China fired water cannons on our supply missions, even at one point using a laser and generally harassing and obstructing our ability to resupply our ships. In June, there was probably the largest manifestation of harassment and destruction when they actually towed away our boats, and one Filipino Marine was injured. All of these created rising tensions.

I think our view is that eventually, there is a need to see how we can manage or de-escalate the tensions because you always run the danger at some point if you don’t manage these incidents. We both recognized that need and also the need to utilize diplomacy and find a way to reduce tensions, at least insofar as the supply situation is concerned.

One of the key elements is that both sides have agreed that our national positions will remain as they are, and our overall positions on the South China Sea will not be affected by whatever arrangement we come up with. So the real test, I think, is to see how this arrangement holds since it’s provisional, and that opens the possibility of improving it in the future.

In relation to the previous question, with the increasing focus on regional security, particularly in the South China Sea, how is the Philippines collaborating with South Korea on defense and security issues? Are there any upcoming joint military exercises or defense cooperation agreements that the Philippines and South Korea are planning? We have a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation already and we have invited Korea to participate in some exercises. We are the only Southeast Asian country that has such a dialogue with Korea that includes discussions on maritime security, creating maritime domain awareness and maritime law enforcement. I think that mechanism provides a good means of identifying further maritime cooperation activities and defense. At the same time, we are also working together on promoting international law, adherence to international law and the rules-based order.

Just this week, 100 Filipino caregivers arrived for a pilot program in Korea. What measures are being implemented to support and protect the welfare of Filipino nationals residing and working in South Korea? The caregiver issue, of course, started from a proposal by the Korean government. And because of the close ties we have and our close partnership, we sought ways where we can respond and help. I have raised the need to ensure that the rights and benefits of our caregivers are delivered and promoted with my counterparts when I met them during my visit here. We have made this point clear and I think that we will be discussing this matter further in the future.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]