The Palace cannot give assurance that the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea will be finalized during the Philippines' hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders Summit next week.

In a briefing on Thursday, Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro reiterated that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr,. is still hopeful that the COC will be completed during the ASEAN Summit this month.

"As of now, we also cannot say for certain that it won't actually reach a conclusion during the 49th ASEAN Summit, because the President still wants it to be finalized during the period when the Philippines serves as the ASEAN chair," she said.

Castro refused to give further details about the code of conduct as she noted that the details on the matter will come from Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro.

In an interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel Thursday evening, Lazaro said: ''I do not want to pre-empt the leaders who will be making the appropriate announcement but I can just say that the ASEAN and China has been endavoring to conclude the Code of Conduct ''

In a previous interview, Lazaro expressed hope that the long-awaited COC aimed at managing maritime disputes in the South China Sea will be concluded before the end of 2026.

ASEAN and China agreed to a single draft of the code of conduct in August 2018, then reached an agreement in November 2018 to finalize the COC within three years, starting in 2019.

Since there is no final document that was agreed upon since then, ASEAN and China reset the target to 2026. Robina Asido/PHS