House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday said the Southeast Asian region should consider itself as a “family” where the economic superpower is the “senior uncle” to “smaller” countries who have claims in the South China Sea.

This while she throws her support to the deals forged between the Philippines and China, including the joint oil and gas exploration.

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“Ako, in general, pabor ako sa mga joint projects eh, because they foster friendship and cooperation. More or less ganun din ang aking approach noong ako’y president,” Arroyo said in an interview during a road project inspection and gift-giving event in Brgy. Mitle Proper, Porac, Pampanga.

“Dapat kasi, ako ha, itong mga away-away sa mga… or hindi naman away, mga differences in the region, and maganda diyan sana, ‘yung China i-consider niya ang sarili niya as the senior uncle sa maraming mga pamangkin,” she also said.

The Pampanga 2nd District congresswoman added: “‘Yung mga maliliit na bansa, sa isang pamilya, lahat ng miyembro ng pamilya ay meron silang tungkulin para sa ikinabubuti ng pamilya. So, ‘yun ang dapat maging attitude ng lahat.”

Arroyo, a former President, has taken a pro-China stance in the past and has backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s bilateral talks with the Asia’s superpower.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Duterte recently witnessed the signing of 29 agreements between Beijing and Manila, which have been locked in a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The agreements were forged during Xi’s state visit to the Philippines last November 19-20.

One of the deals was a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on oil and gas development.

READ: PH, China sign MOU on oil and gas development, 28 other deals

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled Beijing’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea as invalid. But Duterte has chosen to set aside the historic ruling and engaged China in bilateral talks. /kga

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