Current International Legal Issues: Philippines
Current International Legal Issues: Philippines Rommel J. Casis and Maria Pia Benosa* 1 Treaties and Other International Agreements Philippine diplomacy is guided by the “Three Pillars of Philippine Foreign Pol- icy” with the President as principal architect. These are the preservation and enhancement of national security, promotion and attainment of economic se- curity, and the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare of over- seas Filipinos. Pursuant to these overarching goals, the Philippines negotiated and concluded several significant treaties, other international agreements, and arrangements in recent years. The governments of the Philippines and the United States signed an En- hanced Defense Cooperation Agreement,1 following an earlier Status of Visit- ing Forces Agreement with Australia,2 bolstering defense partnership with the two countries. Within the region, negotiations with countries in the Associa- tion of South East Asian Nations (asean) brought forth the asean Charter,3 the legal and institutional framework for the regional organization – which asean leaders signed in 2007. * Prof. Rommel Casis, Director, Institute of International Legal Studies, University of the Phil- ippines (UP) Law Center, and Assistant Professor of Law, UP College of Law, and Prof. Maria Emilynda Jeddahlyn Pia V. Benosa, Professorial Lecturer, UP College of Law, and Law Educa- tion Specialist, UP Law Center. The contributors are Assistant Secretary J. Eduardo Malaya, Department of Foreign Affairs (for the sections on Treaties and other International Agree- ments; International Litigation and Adjudication); Prof. Emerson Bañez, Assistant Professor of Law, UP College of Law, and Head, Information and Publications Division, UP Law Center; Prof. Romel Regalado Bagares, Senior Consultant, Center for International Law (Philippines), and Professorial Lecturer, Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law; Prof.
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