Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. says he has politely declined an offer from a Chinese friend to give the Philippines a panda.
He described the friend as “well-connected” in Beijing.
“I politely dismissed his offer to give us one. We can稚 starve another animal to death in a dead zoo. Weæ± e just no good at this,” Locsin tweeted on Thursday.
“That was a year ago from a well-connected Chinese friend from the mainland. Not the government.”
Locsin made the statement following reports on the death of a panda that China had lent to Thailand.
The reports indicated that the panda died of a heart attack.
Chuang Chuang, the 19-year-old panda, died in September this year in his enclosure, and shortly after standing up following a meal of bamboo leaves.
Chuang Chuang and his female mate Lin Hui arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2003 on a 10-year loan that was later extended for another 10 years.
