Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 31) — Ramon Tulfo, the new Special Envoy for Public Diplomacy to China, echoed the Duterte administration's stance on an international arbitral tribunal ruling favoring the Philippines' rights in the West Philippine Sea.

"China doesn't recognize the ruling of the Hague. What can we do about it? We might as well talk business with China," Tulfo told CNN Philippines' The Source on Wednesday.

He reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte's stance that the Philippines cannot go to war with the Eastern giant, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea.

"Can we back up our claim with might? That's it. The President is very practical. Can we match China's military's might? The U.S. would have backed us up, but it doesn't or didn't," Tulfo added.

The newly-appointed envoy said he is for the Beijing-Manila joint oil exploration deal. Critics have argued that allowing the joint exploration compromises the country's sovereignty, as the exploration will cover parts of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

"We can be friends with China without compromising our dignity as a nation," he explained.

China has an ongoing territorial dispute with the Philippines in parts of the South China Sea. It refuses to recognize the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration's 2016 ruling that invalidated Beijing's historical claims on a sprawling area of the sea and recognized the Philippines' sovereign rights over areas within its exclusive economic zone.

The Duterte administration has been slammed for developing warmer ties with Beijing amid this maritime row.

Tulfo said his top priority is to bring in investors from China and convince them to come to our shores as tourists.

"China has always been misunderstood by us because we've been greatly influenced by the U.S. especially by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)," but China is not an evil empire as portrayed by the U.S. and as many people see it," he said.

No conflict of interest

Tulfo also denied there is conflict of interest in taking the post and retaining his radio show on dzRP network, "Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo."

"'Yung trabaho ko naman as Special Envoy is not a full-time job. Pag meron lang utos si Presidente, pupunta ako sa China, pupunta ako," Tulfo told CNN Philippines' The Source.

[Translation: My job as Special Envoy is not a full-time job. If the President has an order, I will go to China, then I will go.]

Tulfo, the eldest of the controversial siblings, said he will only receive P1 salary after he was apppointed to the post by President Rodrigo Duterte on October 25.

"It's an honorific title, 'yung Special Envoy," he said. "Kaya nga, ang ibig sabihin, walang sweldo [That means there is no salary]."

Tulfo said he is asking PTV-4 to give him a program slot on the network.

He admitted he asked President Rodrigo Duterte to offer him the post after he was discouraged from going after a Senate seat in the 2019 midterm polls.

"The President tried to convince me to run," he said. "Sabi niya, "Meron akong nakatagong pera diyan na kaunti. Pwede kitang bigyan."

But Tulfo declined the President's offer, and the President offered him the special envoy post instead.

"I wanted to serve my country. Also I have many friends in China. I have established relations with many Chinese people," he claimed.