Manila, Philippines – According to the report posted by GMA news on their Facebook page that the government is not rushing to start an immediate talk to China about the disputed island in the West Philippine Sea. The Malacanang said on Friday that they are taking the time to put a full package and they are not really rushing. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella answered the question about the former President Fidel Ramos’ mission to be a special envoy to China.
President Rodrigo Duterte assigned Ramos to talk China following the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, 2016, that invalidates the China’s nine-dash line, of claiming the islands in the West Philippines Sea. On Wednesday, President Duterte and the four former presidents, together with the members of the National Security Council (NSC) have discussed the plans and their next move for the issue of the disputed island.
Ramos was given a ‘principle of wisdom’ in order to begin the talks “that they can start with things you can agree on and not necessarily begin from an adversarial or insistent position, so basically it is a very diplomatic route instead of confrontation,” Abella said. He also said on Wednesday, that Duterte told the US Secretary of State John Kerry that the talks with China will definitely begin with the ruling.
The former executives who attended the NSC meeting on July 27, 2016, was advised to tackle the issue “diplomatically.” Abella also mentions that “They are all coming from the same place of approaching diplomatically. In other words, this does not run counter to what President Duterte said that even we won the arbitration, we will not flaunt it. Those four former presidents who attended the meeting was Joseph Estrada, Fidel Ramos, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III. The meeting was said to the last five-hour at NSC.
