Yasay questions motives of critics, claims cabal contrives bad press

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. told host and economist Solita Monsod during Monday night's episode of “Bawal Ang Pasaway Kay Mareng Winnie” that criticisms leveled against him by former Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose L. Cuisia Jr. stemmed from their disagreements over the competition between the life-insurance and pre-need industries.

Yasay claimed that, when he was Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, he had warned that Cuisia's and Mar Roxas' efforts to allow foreign insurance companies to compete with the local pre-need players would lead to the collapse of the local industry.

“Media wanted to shoot me down from the very beginning,” Yasay alleged. “Ambassador Cusia has always been behind this.”

He added that Cuisia was part of a “grupo” of critics, the other members of which Yasay refused to identify, who had said that he (Yasay) was the “least qualified” person to be Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) secretary.

Cuisia denied the secretary's accusations and countered that though some of the major pre-need players had failed to meet their obligations, the pre-need industry itself did not collapse.

“Binibintangan niya si Sec Mar Roxas at ako mga isang buwan bago mag-eleksyon. Sinabi na niya sa isang talakayan na kami daw ang dahilan kaya bumagsak yung pre-need industry. Hindi totoo yan.”

Criticisms

Yasay also said that he was prepared to be DFA secretary, especially over the West Philippine Sea issue, because he had met with former Secretaries Albert del Rosario and Jose Rene Almendras, and had attended and read the briefings of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

Also, before he even became DFA secretary, he had met with China's ambassador and other Chinese representatives to make it clear that the Philippines would abide by the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on the West Philippine Sea, whatever it was. 

“Sana naman, dahil signatory din kayo sa UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), irerespeto niyo rin,” he had told the Chinese emissaries.

As to his less-than-enthusiastic demeanor after the court's ruling favored the Philippines, Yasay argued that he was trying not look like he was gloating as the country still needed to engage with China over the dispute.

“At the end of the day, ang enforcement nito ay really through engaging China and the other claimants... in bilateral talks or multi-lateral talks if necessary,” Yasay explained.

“Believe me... I was so happy in my heart that we had that favorable statement, which was way beyond our expectations.”

Yasay also said that he was naturaly dour-looking. “This is even how I look! I may be very happy, but I might look serious, somber.”

About his failure last July to convince the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to include the arbitration ruling in the regional group’s joint statement, Yasay countered, “I did not only do my best. I succeeded!”

Yasay had earlier argued that the ASEAN joint communique that was issued conveyed the same core message his critics had wanted, which was “to urge China to respect the 1982 UNCLOS and the processes prescribed therein including compulsory arbitration towards settlement of disputes in the world seas and oceans." — DVM, GMA News