MANILA: Providing peace for Filipinos through multilateral and bilateral talks is the main objective of incoming Duterte administration’s foreign policy, lawyer and PDP-Laban spokesperson Paola Alvarez has said.
Alvarez was quoted as saying by Philippine Star that while the government will respect the country’s international obligations, foreign policy will be “Filipino first” — welfare of Filipinos will be its prime consideration.
“[Whether we do] multilateral or bilateral talks, our main goal is to achieve peace,” Alvarez, who will also be the spokesperson for Duterte’s Department of Finance, reportedly said.
Alvarez credited Duterte’s dialogue with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua, where she reportedly said the president-elect asked China “to be more kind to our fishermen” for reports that the Chinese Coast Guard no longer harasses Filipinos in traditional fishing grounds in Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc. “I think that is why [the harassment has stopped].”
She added that Duterte “does not want war, he will provide for peace for Filipinos near these disputed sites,” while also making clear that the president-elect’s readiness to talk to China does not mean giving up the country’s claim.
“I told you (China) that is ours, you have no right to be there,” Duterte had said in late May. “And I said whether you believe it or not, (it) would be the predicate of any further discussions about that territory.”
He had further stressed that he expects China to abide by the arbitral court’s ruling on the Philippines’ case, Philippine Star reported.
However, Duterte, during the campaign period said, the Philippines cannot insist on its ownership of the West Philippine Sea since it is militarily weak, according to the report.
Meanwhile, former Ambassador Alberto Encomienda, who used to head the Department of Foreign Affairs – Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center, reportedly said the Chinese Coast Guard’s easing up on Filipino fisherfolk is a positive sign indicating better ties in the future, said the news portal.
