By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora with reports from Catherine Datiles, OJT/PNA
MANILA — China’s top diplomat in Manila on Wednesday lauded the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s (PCOO) role in promoting the China-Philippines relations and its people-to-people ties.
“Communication has been playing an important role in cementing our friendship and promoting our friendship,” Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said during the turnover of donated equipment at the Philippine News Agency (PNA) and Radyo Pilipinas-Philippine Broadcasting Service offices in Quezon City.
“The rapid development of our bilateral relationship has been so successful. One of the major reasons is that PCOO under the leadership of Secretary (Martin) Andanar has been doing a very good job in promoting our bilateral friendship and cooperation particularly in getting our friendly messages across not only throughout the Philippines but also across to the Chinese people,” he added.
During a speech, he pledged more donations to the government’s communications arm.
“Apart from these donations, I am going to give another donation in 2019,” he said, adding that so long as he stays as the Chinese representative in Manila, he will “continue to do so”.
Meanwhile, he noted the “great potential for the PCOO and its counterpart in China” to engage in collaboration and ways the Philippine agency can further improve through grants and loans offered by China.
“There will be more projects that can be financed by Chinese grants or Chinese loans to empower PCOO so that you can get the messages of President (Rodrigo) Duterte and his administration to everyone of the Filipino people,” he said.
This 2019, Andanar said he is optimistic the Philippines will be able to ink an agreement with the China National Radio and Television Administration to strengthen the two nations’ media cooperation.
“We’re optimistic this will happen but let’s see because (Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Teodoro) Locsin Jr. said it’s possible in the coming Belt and Road and Road Forum in April 2019,” he told reporters.
“When President Xi Jinping came to the Philippines, he underscored the importance of media cooperation between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) states,” he added.
Zhao, on the other hand, said the bilateral relations of the two states’ partnership have witnessed not only revitalization for the past few years, but also an upgrade to a comprehensive relationship of “strategic importance”, when the Chinese leader embarked on a historic state visit to the country last November 2018.
“The historic visit has upgraded our relationship into comprehensive strategic cooperation (last year). Looking into 2019, our primary task is to implement the agreement that we have signed during his visit,” he said.
“With the implementation of these documents, I’m sure our bilateral relationship will really set our relations into the Golden period, meaning it will bring more tangible benefits to the social-economic development of the Philippines,” he added.
