By Robina Asido

The negotiation for the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea is 70 percent completed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

In a press briefing ahead of the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, Deputy Director General and ASEAN 2026 spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial of the DFA said that discussions for the COC are ongoing.

"Negotiations are ongoing. Our COC negotiators are still doing discussions regarding the COC. So at the moment, I am unable to definitively say that, when it will be concluded or will it be finalized within the year or not. But what I can say is, all are committed to continue the discussions," he said.

"At the moment, we're seeing a 70 percent completion of the negotiations. So we are at that stage at the moment. And looking at the remaining 30 percent, that would be up to our negotiators on how they would be able to complete them," he added.

Imperial said that he does not have details on the remaining issues that are need to discuss to complete the COC, but he noted the Philippine side wants ''to ensure is that the COC will guide the behavior of all parties in the South China Sea."

"We are also pushing for, you know, the rights of the 3rd parties to be respected, even if they're not part of the negotiations. That's from the Philippines side. We want to make sure that those elements will matter when the COC negotiation is completed," he said.

He also added that part of the remaining challenges in the negotiations are issues that need to be clarified, and the elements of agreement that need to be refined.

"In terms of challenges, in the remaining part of the negotiations. What I can share with you is that, there are issues that need to be clarified. There are certain elements in the agreement that need to be, refined. Our negotiatiors are at that point wherever they need to make some clarifications on some of the elements contained in the agreement," Imperial explained.

"While there are challenges, I would also like to point out that there's a commitment among the parties to be able to finalize whatever they need to finalize and to come to an agreement in some of these issues that they are continuously discussing," he added.

In an interview ahead of the ASEAN Summit, 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. PHS