Alunan is Duterte’s next emissary to China if Ramos turns down job

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he would ask former Interior Secretary and defeated senatorial candidate Rafael Alunan III to negotiate with China if former President Fidel Ramos rejects the offer to be the country’s special envoy.

“Bukas kung magsabi si President Ramos na hindi niya na kaya, I’ll appoint Alunan, yung DILG, mahusay ‘yun,” Duterte said in a speech during his visit at the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in the province of Maguindanao.

“He’s a colonel sa reserve force. ‘Yung na lang ang ipalit. He knows his business,” he added.

Alunan served as DILG secretary during the administration of Ramos. He ran and lost in the 2016 senatorial elections.

Ramos earlier said he would meet Duterte over the weekend to discuss the country's bilateral relations with China.

Duterte asked Ramos to be the country's emissary to China, a few days after the release of the decision of the international arbitration tribunal favoring the Philippines in the maritime case it filed against China in 2013.

Ramos said he was willing to accept the president's offer only if he would receive a medical clearance from his doctors and if he would finish his personal commitments. —NB, GMA News