Special Events
FSI Continues to Develop Maritime Experts
In celebration of the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo 2023), the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) hosted a hybrid learning session on 29 September 2023 featuring a lecture by Deputy Administrator Efren P. Carandang of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). The lecture was part of the pilot run of the Introduction to UNCLOS and the Arbitral Tribunal Award of 2016. This Course was designed for participants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and from the Institute.
The hybrid modality lecture gave an opportunity for online and onsite participants to interact with Deputy Administrator Efren P. Carandang.
Secretary Enrique A. Manalo (middle of U-shaped table) with the participants of the Dialogue on Maritime Governance in the South China Sea.
Experts Exchange Views on Maritime Governance, Importance of Dialogue in the Wake of Increased Tensions in the South China Sea
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines co-hosted the Dialogue on Maritime Governance in the South China Sea on 16-17 August 2023 at the Makati Diamond Residences, Makati City.
The Track II dialogue brought together renowned legal scholars, security experts, and practitioners from across the Indo-Pacific region and beyond to discuss fresh ideas and the ways forward in managing, if not perhaps resolving, the South China Sea disputes.
The event featured enriching conversations on how to transform the potential for conflict in the South China Sea into areas for joint collaboration and stewardship, without prejudice to each country’s sovereignty and with due regard to their national interests.
Former Judge in South China Sea Arbitration Case Discusses New Challenges to Philippine Maritime Security
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs-Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office (DFA-MOAO), and the German Embassy in Manila, held a webinar entitled “New Challenges to the Security of the Philippines from the Sea” on 16 November 2021 via Zoom.
Professor Dr. Rüdiger Wolfrum, a former judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the Philippine-appointed arbitrator in the South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v. China), was the keynote speaker. He examined the changing definition of maritime security and differentiated it from maritime safety. According to him, maritime safety is concerned with ensuring the safety of life at sea, which includes maintaining the safety of navigation and the preservation of the marine environment. Maritime security, on the other hand, is oriented towards the security of the coastal state, in particular, on the external threats to its territorial integrity from the sea.
Top row (left to right): Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Wolfrum (member of the Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration); Edcel John Ibarra (FSI-CIRSS); and Prof. Dr. Suzette Suarez (HSB Hochschule Bremen). Middle row (left to right): Amb. Anke Reiffenstuel (German Ambassador to the Philippines); Amb. Gilberto G.B. Asuque (former Philippine Permanent Representative to the IMO); and Assistant Secretary Maria Angela A. Ponce (DFA-MOAO). Last row: Prof. Jay Batongbacal (Director, UP IMLOS).
Participants of the Seminar on the Implementation of the DOC included senior diplomats, technical practitioners, and experts from academe and think tanks.
FSI Seminar Explores Practical Cooperation on the South China Sea
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), together with the Department of Foreign Affairs – Office of ASEAN Affairs, organized a Seminar on the Implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) on 28-29 August 2017 at the Conrad Manila, Pasay City, Philippines. It was a follow-up to the Seminar-Workshop on the Implementation of the DOC held in 2015 in Manila, which dealt with Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Declaration.
Pursuant to Paragraph 6 of the DOC, the Track 1.5 Seminar discussed ways forward in realizing practical cooperation in the South China Sea. The activity allowed for the exchange of perspectives and insights on managing the South China Sea among senior diplomats from ASEAN Member States and China, as well as technical practitioners and experts from the academe and think tanks.
FSI, OSSSM, and NDCP Hold the 5th Heneral Anotnio Luna Colloquium on Arbitration and the South China Sea Disputes
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the Office of Strategic Studies and Strategy Management (OSSSM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the National Defense College (NDCP) of the Philippines conducted the fifth Heneral Antonio Luna Colloquium Series with the theme “The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes: The Arbitration Case between the Philippines and China” on 18 April 2017 at the Carlos P. Romulo Library, Department of Foreign Affairs. The guest speaker was Dr. Krista Wiegand, a Fulbright Senior Scholar and an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee. The event was attended by military officers, civilian government officials, and members of the academe.
Dr. Wiegand congratulated the Philippines for its bold move in pursuing arbitration, and regarded it as the most effective strategy for dispute resolution. She considered three factors that led to this decision: 1) the need to counterbalance China’s military actions in the South China Sea; 2) a personalized foreign policy approach by presidents; and 3) higher probability of winning.
Dr. Krista Wiegand answers questions during the open forum.
DFA Undersecretary Enrique A. Manalo delivers the keynote address on behalf of Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr.
Legal Scholars and Security Experts Discuss Possible Ways Forward at FSI's Second Manila Conference on the South China Sea
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), in partnership with Griffith Asia Institute (GAI) of Griffith University, Australia, and with support from The Asia Foundation and New Era University-ASEAN Studies Center, hosted the Second Manila Conference on the South China Sea on 3-4 August 2016 at the Manila Hotel, Manila, Philippines. This was a follow-up to the First Manila Conference held in July 2011, which focused on the need to calibrate regional cooperative activities in managing the South China Sea disputes.
The Second Conference, with the theme “Managing Tensions, Revisiting Regional Efforts, and Fostering Cooperation,” assessed the current situation in the South China Sea and identified possible courses of action, with emphasis on the role of international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in managing and resolving disputes. The Track 2 conference gathered local and international legal scholars, security experts, and practitioners.