Sponsorship Speech for Senator Ronald "Bato" M. dela Rosa P.S. Resolution No. 303

Mr. President,

I rise today to sponsor P.S. Resolution No. 303 commending the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under the leadership of our esteemed Guest of Honor, His Excellency President VUONG DINH HUE (Vwong Ding Hwe), in further strengthening Philippines-Vietnam inter-parliamentary relations. Our good Majority Floor Leader has already formally acknowledged the President's presence together with his delegation and we truly appreciate their timely visit. We warmly welcome you to the Senate of the Philippines!

His Excellency Vuong Dinh Hue is considered the fourth highest ranking official in Vietnam's political structure, after the General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the President as Head of State and the Prime Minister as Head of Government. His visit today here in the Senate is a historic one as we aim to forge closer parliamentary ties between our countries and further strengthen our warm and robust relationship, which spans for more than forty-five years since 1976.

Yesterday, Mr. President, I reported my official visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, where I was warmly welcomed by two high-ranking officials of the National Assembly, Vice Chairman Lt. Gen. Tran Quang Phuong (chang-kwang-fung) as well as Secretary General Bui Van Cuong (buy-van-kwoung) and their other colleagues who are members of the Vietnam-ASEAN Parliamentary Friendship Group. During the meetings, we covered many areas of cooperation and acknowledged the importance of the Strategic Partnership between the Philippines and Vietnam, and also discussed important topics including defense, maritime security, pandemic recovery, economy and trade, as well as people-to-people exchanges. With Vietnam as our sole Strategic Partner within the ASEAN, we realize the paramount importance of enhancing our inter-parliamentary relations with Vietnam's National Assembly.

It was a very productive trip. And we thank the National Assembly of Vietnam for their warm hospitality and for receiving me and my delegation in their beautiful parliament building located in their historic city center.

Mr. President, my dear colleagues, this visit of His Excellency President Vuong Dinh Hue is a milestone to our inter-parliamentary relations, being the first Head of the National Assembly to ever hold an official visit to the Philippines after 16 years, upon the invitation of our Senate President, Juan Miguel Zubiri. Likewise, it is historic as we are heading towards the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations.

Philippines-Vietnam Strategic Partnership

For the record, the Philippines and Vietnam became Strategic Partners on November 17, 2015, after signing a Joint Statement recognizing the evolving political, economic and security architecture in the ASEAN region, as well as the consolidation of the ASEAN Community amidst an increasingly globalized and interdependent world economy.

This Strategic Partnership aims to comprehensively elevate political, economic and cultural cooperation, as well as develop and strengthen engagement in key functional areas. It is envisioned to build upon and enhance existing bilateral mechanisms, operationalize concluded agreements, and explore new avenues to deepen the engagement between our two governments.

Allow me therefore, Mr. President, to mention the various areas of cooperation we have with Vietnam which are considered the two main anchors of this Partnership:

First, on maritime cooperation

Maritime security, including cooperation on the South China Sea, is an important anchor of our Strategic Partnership. A major source of impetus for elevating Philippine-Vietnam ties to a Strategic Partnership was the shared concern for maritime security, especially the shared situation of the Philippines and Vietnam as major littoral states in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea confronting a complex dispute, including the overextended claims of China and its coercive actions to assert these claims.

Given our shared maritime interests and concerns, both countries stand to benefit through constructive maritime dialogue, as well as on the exchange of intelligence and approaches.

On the second main anchor, economic/trade cooperation

In 2021, Vietnam is the Philippines' 11th largest trading partner (5th largest within ASEAN), 12th export market, and 10th import supplier. Total trade amounted to US$5.84B, with Philippine exports to Vietnam at US$1.64B and Philippine imports from Vietnam at US$4.196B.

As of August 2022, the Philippines was Vietnam's top export market of rice reaching more than 305 thousand tons valued at US$140M, accounting for 65% of total volume and 63% of total value of exports.

We thank Vietnam for the unhampered trade of Vietnamese rice to the Philippines even during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for Vietnam's commitment to be a stable and quality rice supplier of the Philippines. We are truly grateful for making the Philippines a priority when it comes to your rice exports, and for being an important partner in food security. We assure Vietnam that both our governments will maintain close coordination to further facilitate unrestricted rice trade.

The Philippines-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association

Mr. President, dear colleagues and guests, I am glad to inform you that our Philippines-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association in the Philippine Senate has 14 Senators as Members and this representation serving as President.

We assure our counterparts in the National Assembly of Vietnam that through our respective parliamentary friendship groups, we hope to renew our inter-parliamentary friendship and foster more important exchanges in the future.

All these are made possible through the able leadership of President Vuong Dinh Hue and the entire National Assembly of Vietnam in promoting and further strengthening parliamentary ties. We look forward that both our parliaments will continue to enjoy an excellent working relationship, as we continue to collaborate towards realizing the vast potential of the Philippines-Vietnam Strategic Partnership.

Given all of these mentioned considerations, I therefore urge this august chamber for the immediate adoption of this proposed resolution.

Thank you. And to His Excellency and his delegation, we say “Mãi Mãi là bąn!” (forever friend) Kaibigan magpakailanman!