Philippine envoy presents credentials to seabed authority

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ ambassador presented his credentials as first permanent representative to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said underscored the country’s commitment to uphold the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as constitution of the oceans.

Ambassador Enrique Manalo presented his credentials to Secretary General Michael Lodge of ISA, on the sidelines of the 32nd Meeting of states parties to the UNCLOS at UN Headquarters in New York.

“With this accreditation, the Philippines reaffirms its firm support to the International Seabed Authority, under the able leadership of Secretary General Lodge, as it fulfills its mandate of organizing and controlling all mineral-resources-related activities in the Area for the benefit of mankind as a whole, while proceeding within the framework of sustainable development,” Manalo stated during the presentation of credentials.

ISA is an international organization established under UNCLOS. Through ISA, States Parties to the Convention organize and control all mineral resources-related activities in the international seabed area – or the Area – which covers around 54 percent of the total area of the world’s oceans. It has the mandate to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep-seabed related activities. The Area and its resources are the common heritage of mankind.

“We acknowledge the ISA’s role, and the Secretary General’s work, in ensuring development of capacity building measures that meet needs of developing countries like the Philippines. We appreciate ISA’s capacity building activities, particularly the Deep DiplomaSea webinar series and look forward to the launch of Deep Dive, ISA’s E-learning platform,” he added.

As the international community commemorates the 40th anniversary of UNCLOS, Manalo stressed that his accreditation to ISA is testament to the Philippines’s commitment to upholding UNCLOS as constitution of the oceans.

Headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, ISA became fully operational as an autonomous international organization in June 1996. All States Parties to UNCLOS are also members of ISA. As of June 14, 2022, ISA has 168 members – 167 member states and the European Union.