Pnoy sends Mar Roxas to China

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President Benigno Aquino on Thursday sent Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to China to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the country’s leader-in-waiting,  in what Malacañang said was part of a diplomatic initiative to build on the “thawing” of ties with Beijing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) recommended that Roxas lead the Philippine delegation as Mr. Aquino’s special envoy to the five-day 9th China-Asean Expo in China’s southern city of Nanning, according to presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

Lacierda said the DFA was arranging the meeting with Xi. “We are hoping that we will be able to meet with the Vice President,” said Lacierda, who is part of the delegation.

The announcement of the Roxas mission followed an unprecedented tussle in the Senate over the conduct of negotiations with China on Wednesday between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV—the same day the Inquirer reported that Trillanes, as Mr. Aquino’s backroom negotiator with Beijing, had sparked a tempest in the DFA.

Enrile accused Trillanes of being a “traitor” to the country for allegedly pushing Chinese interests, citing a purported report on Aug. 17 by Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady about her conversation with Trillanes.

DFA-recommended

One of the items in the report Enrile read referred to a supposed recommendation by Trillanes that Mr. Aquino make Roxas an alternate channel for direct communications with the President in the negotiations with China. However, Lacierda stressed that the Roxas mission was recommended by the DFA.

Roxas, who left Thursday, said he expected to meet Friday with Xi, who is widely expected to succeed Chinese President Hu Jintao as leader of China’s ruling Communist Party at its anticipated national congress soon. Xi is expected to take over as president in March next year.

Outstanding issues

Roxas told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that China had sought the meeting.

Asked about his message to Xi, Roxas said: “Without going into specifics, the message pertains to current outstanding issues.” He was obviously referring to the standoff over Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) since April when the Philippine Navy attempted to stop Chinese fishermen from poaching endangered marine life.

The meeting comes amid a “thawing” of the country’s relations with China, according to Roxas, echoing Malacañang’s pronouncement on Wednesday in the wake of disclosures that Trillanes had more than a dozen meetings with officials at different levels in the Chinese government as Mr. Aquino’s back-channel negotiator.

Roxas is expected to discuss matters pertaining to Philippine-China relations, including the dispute in the West Philippine Sea, a territory falling within the Philippine exclusive economic zone but is being contested by China, Lacierda indicated.

“It will certainly be a discussion on a higher level. So certainly we would view this as a positive development, in a positive light,” he said.

Before his departure yesterday, Roxas was briefed by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on the nuts and bolts of the testy relationship with China, Lacierda said.

Positive aspects

One crucial issue to be highlighted by Roxas, a former senator and trade secretary, during the high-level meeting is the tendency to view the bilateral relation from a one-dimensional point of view.

“That’s one of the things that (Roxas) would convey that, as important as the outstanding issues are, there are other facets to Philippine-China relations that are working positively,” said a Palace official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the fine points of the President’s message to be conveyed by Roxas to Xi.

The Palace official said that although the “occasion involves trade issues, the message has to do with territory and other bilateral issues.”

Briefing reporters at the Palace, Lacierda explained that Roxas would relay to Xi what Mr. Aquino would have wanted to tell outgoing Chinese President Hu Jintao during a scheduled meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit on Sept. 8 that was scrapped at the last minute.

“Remember, the President was not able to meet with President Hu Jintao. And so the President has given his approval to Secretary Mar Roxas to relay to the Vice President what President Aquino wanted to relay to President Hu Jintao.”

Unnecessary nuisance

Lacierda denied that the President’s decision to handpick one of his most trusted Cabinet members to represent him was an offshoot of the political storm that triggered a statement by Del Rosario that suggested activities by Trillanes were torpedoing his initiatives.

Trillanes, a former Navy lieutenant who was incarcerated for nearly seven years for leading a failed coup attempt in 2003, has accused Del Rosario of incompetence and called the foreign secretary a “war freak” for seeking the involvement of the United States in the standoff with China. Trillanes claimed his efforts eased tensions between Manila and Beijing.

“This is an unnecessary nuisance,” Lacierda said of the Enrile-Trillanes fight.

Del Rosario recommended Roxas as special envoy of the President after the DFA received a note verbale from the Chinese embassy in Manila requesting Roxas’ presence, said Lacierda.

“It is not an offshoot of the—whatever offshoot it was.  There is no offshoot, by the way. This is really Secretary Del Rosario’s recommendation and the President approved the recommendation of Secretary Del Rosario,” said Lacierda.

Damage control

Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the House committee on national defense and security, yesterday said there was a need for “damage control” in the wake of public disclosures on Trillanes’ role as a backdoor negotiator for the government.

“It may definitely affect (the ongoing talks) but that is already water under the bridge,” he told the Inquirer on the phone. “All you can do now is to effect damage control.”

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the nationally televised confrontation between Enrile and Trillanes “might undermine the talks if still ongoing.”

“It might also jeopardize future back-channeling efforts because other governments might not be honest and candid since there is no assurance that talks would be under wraps,” he said in a text message. 

Mar Roxas is the new DILG Secretary

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Jesse Robredo as the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is a very tough act to follow.

But Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas has accepted the challenge. He is the next DILG secretary, a highly placed source in Malacañang confirmed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Thursday night. He takes over from the late Robredo who died in a plane crash on August 18.

Cavite Representative Joseph E.A. Abaya moves over to the Department of Transportation and Communications, the highly placed source also confirmed to the Inquirer.

Both Roxas and Abaya are stalwarts of the Liberal Party (LP), which is led by President Benigno Aquino. At the request of the Robredo family, both served as pallbearers during the state funeral rites for Secretary Robredo and both had been highly tipped to succeed the latter.

At least three LP members in the House of Representatives on Thursday said the President had made up his mind to move Roxas over to the DILG to sustain the gains made by Robredo who expanded the LP membership among governors and mayors.

No reply

Roxas has not replied to calls on whether he would accept the DILG post if offered by President Aquino.

Abaya, chairman of the House appropriations committee, on the other hand, had declared he would accept the job if offered by the President.

Others whose names had been bruited about, like Vice President Jejomar Binay, were quick to end speculations about their appointment to the DILG. Binay, who pulled a surprise win over Roxas in the May 2010 elections, has announced he will run for president in 2016, said he had no interest in the job.

He suggested, though, that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., whom Mr. Aquino appointed officer in charge during the search for permanent DILG secretary, was qualified for the post, having been a top Quezon City Hall executive for years.

Control of DILG

Another Malacañang official said the party’s top brass had lobbied to the President to make control of the DILG by the party a priority over problems on criminality and the spread of illegal numbers games like jueteng, with the approach of next year’s midterm elections.

Another LP member of Congress, who refused to be identified for lack of authority to speak for the party, said LP leaders had made a strong pitch to the President to keep the DILG in the party’s hands during a lunch in Naga City shortly after Robredo was laid to rest last Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the LP held a meeting at its “Balay” headquarters in Quezon City to swear in new members from several provinces. An LP member present said the DILG vacancy issue was not taken up then as party leaders had already talked to Mr. Aquino in Naga the day before. The Balay headquarters is in the Araneta-Roxas family compound in Cubao.

But Iloilo Representative Jerry Treñas, another LP member who attended Robredo’s interment, said Mr. Aquino and other party leaders merely had lunch and talk of Robredo’s replacement never came up.

No discussion

“There were many guests at the lunch, including Cabinet members. No discussions were made on LP matters including the question of who would be the next DILG secretary,” said Treñas in a phone interview.

Abaya and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr., another LP stalwart, did not reply to the Inquirer’s calls.

Former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, whose name was also floated as a possible Robredo replacement, appeared uncomfortable being mentioned along with the likes of Senator Panfilo Lacson, Davao Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who headed the DILG in the Estrada administration.

“I’m amused when the matter is talked about. They mentioned Duterte, Lim, Lacson, then Grace Padaca. It’s like I’m being lined up with these competent tough men (mga barako),” she said in Filipino in a media forum at Quezon Memorial Circle.

“Para lang akong salinggit (I’m just a runt alongside them),” she said.

But she added: “Hindi naman ibig sabihin na kami pong mga galing sa local governments ay hindi po namin kaya ’yan (But that’s not to say that we who came from the local governments cannot do the job),” she said. “Kakayanin, kakayanin talaga kung nandun yung challenge. Bakit hindi? (We’ll be able to measure up if challenged. Why not?).”

Padaca downplayed reports she was being considered for the DILG post, saying her name was mentioned probably only as part of “political chatter.” She said there were no such discussions in the Liberal Party, of which she is a member.

Meanwhile, DILG employees who are still mourning the loss of Robredo said they were ready to support his replacement, a DILG official said Thursday.

‘Back to normal’

Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero said that while the employees were still grieving, operations were “back to normal.”

“The people are still in shock … it will take time but normal governance processes are ongoing,” Panadero said.

He said that among plans being pursued by Robredo before his untimely death on August 18 in a plane crash off Masbate was the relocation of informal settlers from Metro Manila.

“Well, of course, the new secretary would also have to pay attention to that, but at the moment what I’m saying is that Secretary Robredo had clear plans on how to deal with that so we are carrying them out,” Panadero said.

Mar Roxas: We’re doing everything to save Robredo

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MANILA, Philippines –  Helicopters and divers were searching Sunday for one of the most powerful Philippine ministers, who was missing and feared dead after a light aircraft he was travelling in crashed into the sea.

President Benigno Aquino took the lead in the search for Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, a day after his plane went down near the central island of Masbate.

Aquino flew to Masbate where military divers and helicopters were scouring the area for the minister, who is missing along with two pilots.

Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar”  Roxas, who accompanied Aquino, said special sonar equipment had also been flown to Masbate to help in the search operation after some debris, including one wing of the missing plane, was recovered.

“We just want to do everything we can to save him (Robredo),” Roxas said in a message on Twitter.

Four people were on the private plane. Robredo’s aide, June Paolo Abrazado survived with only a few injuries while the Secretary and  two pilots identified as Capt. Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese Kshitiz Chand remained missing.

The Aquino administration has intensified its efforts to find Robredo and the pilots by sending at least 25 sea vessels from the Philippine Coast Guard, the Navy, Air Force, Philippine National Police, and from the local governments.

The Philippine Navy has deployed its naval ships BRP Simeon Castro and BRP Hilario Ruiz and a diving team from the Naval Special Operations Group (Nagsog) to help in surface and underwater search and rescue operations.

The divers of Navsog have Trimix capabilities, which allow deep diving operations.

A navy islander plane and another diving team were also dispatched from Sangley Point in Cavite to assist in search operations, said Navy spokesman Colonel Omar Tonsay.

Philippine Air Force spokesman Colonel Miguel Ernesto Okol told INQUIRER.net that five helicopters, including its most modern assets, three Sokol and 2UH1H, were also enroute to Masbate.

From an area of about two kilometers from the shore, the search now covers a four kilometer-by-three kilometer site, in a depth of from 40 meters to 67 meters, according to notice posted in a bulletin board of La Villa Resort, which is now being used as a command center in the search and rescue efforts being overseen by no less than President Aquino.

Roxas, who was designated spokesman for the Robredo search, said two US aircrafts did a fly-by in the area last night but found no trace of the aircraft or of its missing passengers – Robredo and pilots Capt. Jessup Bahinting and Nepalese Kshitiz Chand.

He said they hoped to get better results with sonar equipment expected to arrive this morning from Cebu.

The government also called a prayer vigil at a Roman Catholic chapel in Manila for the 54-year-old cabinet member, a father of three daughters and a former city mayor.

He is considered to be one of the most influential Philippine politicians and a close presidential aide.

As interior secretary, Robredo was in control of the country’s 143,000-strong national police force which has long been dogged by accusations of corruption and abuse.

In recent months, he had ordered investigations into alleged financial irregularities over the construction of police stations and purchase of helicopters and rescue boats.

Robredo was also playing a key role in the dismantling of private armies allegedly deployed by some powerful provincial governors and city mayors ahead of congressional and local elections in 2013.

A former official at an ice cream company, Robredo was elected mayor of Naga City in the strife-torn Bicol region, south of Manila in 1988 at the age of 29, making him the youngest mayor in the country at the time.

His success in turning the once-sleepy city into a trading, housing and education centre won him many honours including a 2000 Ramon Magsaysay award, considered Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize.

After serving nine years as a city mayor, he joined Aquino’s successful campaign for the presidency in 2010, endorsing his reformist platform. Robredo was subsequently appointed to the cabinet.