Special envoy FVR not in Duterte delegation to China

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos listens to a question during a press briefing at the Philippines consular office in Hong Kong, China, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. AP/Ng Han Guan, file | By Alexis Romero via Philstar

MANILA, Philippines -- Former president and special envoy to China Fidel V. Ramos will not join President Rodrigo Duterte on his state visit to Beijing next week, a Malacañang official said Thursday.

 

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Ramos informed him last Saturday that he would not be part of the president’s delegation.

 

“He (Ramos) did not say why he won’t join but I believe that it is about giving respect to our current President Rodrigo Duterte,” Andanar said in a press briefing.  

 

“If there are two presidents there, it is possible that the attention would be divided,” he added.

 

Ramos, president from 1992 to 1998, was one of the individuals who asked Duterte to run for president. Last July, Duterte named him as special envoy to hold backchannel talks with Chinese representatives on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) dispute.

 

Duterte is scheduled to visit China from Oct. 18 to 21 in line with his effort to seek broader alliances with other countries.

 

He is scheduled to meet with China President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to discuss ways to improve ties between their countries. They are also expected to tackle economic cooperation, trade and regional concerns.

 

The visit was seen as an attempt to revitalize the ties between the Philippines and China, which has been strained by the maritime dispute.

 

It will also come as the relationship between the Philippines and the United States faces uncertainty following a verbal spat between Duterte and American officials over the government’s war on drugs.

 

The US has called out Duterte for the spate of killings related to the narcotics crackdown, a move that the Philippine leader viewed as interference in Manila’s internal affairs.

 

Duterte has said he does not mind if the US pulls out its assistance to the Philippines as he can always strengthen ties with China and Russia.

 

Duterte’s tirades have been viewed as “undiplomatic” by critics who pointed out that his antics could affect the flow of aid to the Philippines.

 

Even Ramos believes that the Philippines is “losing badly” in the first 100 days of the Duterte administration because of his controversial pronouncements. Ramos, however, believes Duterte still has time to correct the flaws of his administration.

 

Malacañang officials have said that they respect Ramos’ views but maintained that Duterte would continue to have his own decision-making process.

 

“You know, former President Ramos is a senior statesman and he’s acting in a sense like a father,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in an earlier interview.

 

“But the president is his own person and definitely— but on the other hand also, the president is not just a reader, an actor, and a listener so we can expect that he also has his own decision-making processes and so may respond in a mature way also,” he added.