GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO AIMS TO BE PRO CHINA MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE
I have it on good sources that Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be out to befriend China as she will be aiming for the country's top diplomatic post.
There is good verified information coming out from the office of Philippine Ambassador Carlos Sorreta to Russia on how the former President and soon to be ex House Speaker will plan to snatch the Department of Foreign Affairs post.
According to diplomatic cables provided to this page, Arroyo aims to have extremely close ties with Beijing.
This will seem as a logical move for Arroyo as President Duterte kept a soft distance after a Chinese fishing vessel rammed a boat of Filipino fishermen in the contested islands of the West Philippine Sea.
Ambassador Sorreta previously served as Special Assistant for Foreign Affairs during the term of Arroyo in Malacañang.
Enabling Mrs Arroyo's foreign policy, Sorreta will surely get a higher post if Mrs Arroyo does make it through the DFA.
The unpopular Arroyo should be on the hunt for a Cabinet position after June 30 as she did not run for any elected position even in her hometown.
We will have to wait and see if the President can be lured. He should be more circumspect though.
Let us remind Duterte that according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer during the NBN-ZTE deal:
"On April 21, 2007, the government signed with China's ZTE Corp. the $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal, which called for the installation of a telecommunications network linking government offices throughout the country.
Five months later, Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, a cofounder of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), testified in a Senate hearing that the project was overpriced by about $130 million to cover kickbacks."
