Villanueva: Duterte ‘right person’ to be PH envoy to China
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Friday said former President Rodrigo Duterte could be the “right person” to become the special envoy to China to ease the tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
Villanueva’s comment supported Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s suggestion for the former president.
“Why not? If the former president can easily, it seems, access doon sa China, sa pangulo ng Tsina (have access to China and the Chinese president),” Villanueva told reporters in an online briefing when asked to comment on Cayetano’s suggestion.
The senator stressed the diplomatic value of the country having open lines of communication with Beijing.
“I think he could be that person, the right person to talk to para ma-ease itong tension na nararamdaman doon sa West Philippine Sea, but moreso to ensure na bukas pa rin ang communication natin,” Villanueva said of Duterte.
(He could be the right person to ease the tension in the West Philippine Sea, but more so to ensure the communication lines remain open.)
“Because at the end of the day hindi naman nga tayo dapat talagang nagpapadalos-dalos, ngunit sa isang banda, hindi rin tayo magpapadarag, at hindi rin tayo basta-basta na lamang tatanggapin na pwede tayong babatuk-batukan nila sa sarili nating teritoryo,” he went on.
(Because at the end of the day, we should not act impulsively, but at the same time, we would not allow ourselves to be stepped on and be hit in our territory.)
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday also welcomed the proposal of Cayetano, who also served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Duterte administration.
In July, Duterte met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry.
No other details were provided.
Duterte maintained his cordial relations with China despite maritime tensions stemming from Beijing’s claim that it owned more than 80 percent of the entire South China Sea that overlaps with the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
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