RAMOS disappointed at P-Noy’s advisers. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Who the heck is advising President Aquino?
Former President Fidel V. Ramos would like to know.
On Wednesday, Ramos said he was disappointed at Aquino’s speech on the Mamasapano clash on Monday, describing it as less than the “high standard of behavior” required of the Commander in Chief.
Ramos also criticized the President’s advisers for their failure to maintain the dignity of the Office of the President.
Ramos said Aquino’s advisers “failed in their mission to keep the President of our country up there, instead of being the target now of all kinds of criticism high and low.”
He added that he observed this failure not only in the President’s meeting with evangelical leaders, in Malacañang on Monday, but also in other previous instances.
President Aquino spoke to leaders of evangelical groups on Monday, insisting that the sacked commander of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF), Director Getulio Napeñas, gave him wrong information about the Jan. 25 counterterrorism operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, that cost the lives of 44 SAF commandos.
While the public was urging Aquino to take responsibility for the tragedy as Commander in Chief, he dumped the blame on Napeñas, saying the former SAF chief disobeyed his order to coordinate the operation with the military.
Speaking to reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 minutes before boarding his flight to Burma (Myanmar), Ramos said he was “so disappointed with the language used” by Aquino.
“If that (language) were used in a meeting of group of international leaders or even just ordinary foreigners visiting our country, the impact, including the message given, would have been so negative for our country,” he said.
‘Navigator’ of country
According to the former President, Aquino is not just the father of the nation or just the Commander in Chief of the uniformed services, but is also the “navigator” of the country.
“We are on board one ship and therefore our lives, including those of our families and the unborn, depend on this man called the President and as such he has a certain high standard of behavior, even paternal feelings and even leadership ascendancy over everyone in this country,” he said.
Ramos left for Burma to lead the Rangoon International Water Summit on Friday, meet with the country’s top officials and participate in a dialogue called “Challenges to Peace and Development: The Philippine Experience,” organized by the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation Inc.
No political crisis
Defending Aquino, Senate President Franklin Drilon said Wednesday that the public anger over Mamasapano was “part of the process” and “part of the political environment.”
Speaking to reporters, Drilon said he did not think Mamasapano had put the President in a deep political crisis.
“[The President] should expect that and I think he is prepared to respond to all of these questions,” he said.
Drilon, however, said he did not know whether the report on the Senate investigation of the Mamasapano clash could ease the political tension.
“But I can tell you that there will be no whitewash in our report. It will be complete and it will take into account all the evidence that we have gathered from the resource persons,” he said.
‘Just say sorry’
But Sen. Serge Osmeña III said President Aquino was going through a “crisis of credibility.”
“It’s very hard to lose your credibility when you’re President. No one believes you,” he said.
But Aquino can still surmount his crisis, Osmeña said.
Asked how, he said, “Just say sorry.”
“That’s the best beginning,” he continued. “And then he should accept responsibility. OK, I made a mistake, sorry. We’re gonna make corrections so it doesn’t happen again.”
Osmeña said he believed the people would accept the President’s apology and that the “healing process is going to be faster.”
Told that Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma had already said that the President would not apologize, Osmeña said that was a “sad reaction.”
Asked whether an apology would open the President to lawsuits after he stepped down in 2016, Osmeña said no.
No one would take anyone to court “if you make a mistake in good faith,” he said.
“That’s not justiciable. I’ve never seen a President sued for making misjudgments,” he said.
Bishops want Aquino out
Some Catholic bishops, however, want Aquino to step down and one of them, retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, will not stop urging the President to go despite support from Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
“I perfectly understand and accept Cardinal Tagle’s thinking and position. The fact that he stands for the President and he does not want people to call for resignation is something I have to honor and understand,” Cruz said in a telephone interview.
“He (Tagle) spoke as a citizen. He has all the right to say he is not supportive of the National Transformation Council (NTC). In the same way, I myself as well as the other bishops and archbishops in the country will stand by our position, we want the President to resign now,” he said.
“The movement espoused by some churchmen for his (Aquino’s) resignation continues notwithstanding the expressed opinion of Cardinal Tagle,” he added.
Questioning credibility
Tagle, in an interview from England by ABS-CBN on Monday, defended Aquino against mounting calls, including those from several bishops, for him to step down over Mamasapano.
Tagle also opposed the creation of an advisory council that would take over in the event Aquino was forced to resign, questioning the credibility of those who would constitute the body.–With a report from Tina G. Santos
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