How can the Philippines partner with ASEAN to ease tensions in the Spratlys?

AS we await the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas’ (ITLOS) decision on our case set before it, we must remember that the totality of the issues that beset us in the West Philippine Sea will not be decided by the ITLOs while we also avoid the trap of investing all our options in that course alone. In order for our other pursued efforts to help ease tensions, encourage collaboration amongst all claimants, and contribute towards the long-term management and resolutions of our issues, we need to partner with ASEAN, so that our actions stick and become rooted over a longer time period than the fluctuations of our six-year presidential administrations.

In this, two strategies we should take are to: draft our own COC in ASEAN and employ Indonesia as an honest broker in negotiations.