MANILA, Philippines – Former interior secretary Rafael Alunan may be tapped as replacement of former president Fidel Ramos if the latter turns down President Duterte’s request to be the Philippines’ special envoy to China.
“If president Ramos will say he cannot do it, I’ll appoint Alunan. He is a reservist. He is a colonel in the reserve force. He knows his business,” Duterte said during his visit to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division headquarters in Cotabato, where he tried to boost the morale of troops engaged in the fight against terror groups and dissidents in Southern Mindanao.
Prior to this, Duterte said that the Philippines is a country rich in resources, adding in jest that there’s enough even if China gets the entire South China Sea.
The Philippines recently won the award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that found as baseless China’s claims over most of the South China Sea.
“Even if you say China will fight with us, you can have it. We have even more (resources) here. They just don’t know about it. But let us not let them know,” he added.
Duterte talked about the country’s vast resources as he declared that the Bangsamoro people and the government could negotiate what area they would want to have under the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The President even ridiculed China for trying to own the entire South China Sea, adding that it can also claim ownership of the Indian and Pacific oceans.