Peaceful Resolution of Maritime Dispute
President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines signed on Friday 23 May 2014 a maritime boundary deal that resolves the territorial claims of the Philippines and Indonesia. During a ceremony in Malacañang, Aquino and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono witnessed the signing of an agreement settling a 20-year-old maritime boundary dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
According to Aquino on Inquirer.net, the deal demonstrates the Philippines' aim to settle maritime disputes without the use of force and violence. The agreement is the result of a rules-based negotiation between the Philippines and Indonesia to achieve an equitable delimitation of their overlapping exclusive economic zone in the Mindanao Sea, Celebes Sea and the Philippine Sea.
Yudhoyono congratulated the Philippines for arriving at a peace agreement in the Southern Philippines.
