Despite emphasizing the urgency of the code of conduct for the South China Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said no progress has been made on this during the ASEAN Summits in Cambodia last week.

"Well, nothing new actually has happened in terms of the code of conduct. We all just restated over and over again," he said.

"We need to have a code of conduct. To be very clear about what it is that we are agreeing upon," he said.

The code of conduct intends to help claimants in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, manage tensions.

Marcos said during the summit he repeatedly mentioned the urgency of having a code of conduct.

"It is becoming more and more urgent and we really should, the negotiations and the finalization of the code of conduct," he said.

"There’s been some progress in the past year but we really need to have the actual code of conduct, already finalized and already in place as soon as possible," he added. Robina Asido/DMS