From: phillstar.com
Interior and Local Government Secretary
Manuel "Mar" Roxas II on Friday assured that the Aquino
administration will not give up the country's claim over the disputed
territories in the West Philippine Sea.
“Hindi naman puwedeng iatras natin ang interes
ng bansa," Roxas said in an interview with ABS-CBN News' radio station on
Friday morning.
Roxas said he was sent by President Benigno
Aquino III to meet with Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to clarify the position
of the country in the dispute over some territories in the South China Sea,
which is now being officially called by the Philippines as the West Philippine
Sea.
"Hindi naman tayo naghahanap ng away o
kalaban, ipapaabot lang natin ang sinserong pananaw ng ating bansa dito sa
bagay na ito," the interior secretary said.
Roxas was designated as the country's special
envoy to the 9th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) in Nanning and lead the group of
Philippine leaders who will meet with Xi at
the sidelines of the event.
The designation came after revelations that
President Aquino allowed Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to head back-channel
negotiations with Chinese leaders on the two country's dispute over Panatag
Shoal (Scarborough Shoal).
Roxas said that he will not discuss the
back-channel talks with Xi. He declined to divulge the exact message that
President Aquino wanted to be relayed to Xi. ###
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