Ramos’ remark on Duterte fatherly advice, says Palace

ADVISER President Duterte listens to the report of his special envoy to China, former President Fidel V. Ramos, during a Cabinet meeting in Malacañang’s on Aug. 22. —MALACAÑANGPHOTO

Malacañang has played down as “fatherly” advice comments by former President Fidel V. Ramos that President Duterte’s performance in the first 100 days was a “huge disappointment and a letdown to many
of us.”

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Monday said at a press conference that “former President Ramos is a senior statesman and he’s acting in a sense like a father.”

In a column in another newspaper on Sunday, Ramos said the government was “losing badly” by prioritizing a controversial war on drugs at the expense of issues like poverty, living costs, foreign investment and jobs.

Ramos said Mr. Duterte could have done a lot of things “had he hit the ground running instead of being stuck in unending controversies about extrajudicial killings of drug suspects and in his ability to use cuss words and insults instead of civilized language.”

Mr. Duterte picked Ramos, who occupied Malacañang from 1992 to 1998, as his special envoy to break the ice with China and manage the fallout from an international arbitration ruling that Manila won in July and dented Beijing’s claims to jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea.

‘Discombobulating’

Mr. Duterte has spoken often of his respect for Ramos and that the latter had persuaded him to run in the May presidential election.

Abella noted that Ramos’ criticisms were mainly focused on the President’s words and not on his policy reforms.

“He’s not referring to the actual actions. He’s referring to the public relations, foreign relations that tend to be affected by the President’s language,” he added.

Ramos said the administration’s mixed statements on Philippine-US relations were “discombobulating,” including Mr. Duterte’s verbal attack on US President Barack Obama early in September at the same time his defense and finance secretaries were on visits to the United States.

Throwing away partnership

Mr. Duterte a week ago said Obama should “go to hell” and that during his term, he might “break up” with traditional ally Washington.

On Friday, he reiterated that ongoing US-Philippine military exercises would be “the last” and challenged Washington to use the Central Intelligence Agency to oust him.

“So what gives?” Ramos asked.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella  JOAN BONDOC/Philippine Daily Inquirer

“Are we throwing away decades of military partnership, tactical proficiency, compatible weaponry, predictable logistics and soldier-to-soldier camaraderie just like that? On Du30’s say-so?” Ramos said, referring to a popular acronym for Duterte.

He hoped the next 100 days would be “much, much better” and the President would consider “the entire gamut of Philippine problems, starting with poverty.”

Abella, however, could not say if Mr. Duterte would heed Ramos’ advice but added that he was optimistic that the President would react in a “mature” way.

“We understand where each one is coming from. Each one has his own perspective. But the President is his own person. But on the other hand, the President is not just a reader, an actor and a listener. So we can expect that he also has his own decision-making processes and so may respond in a mature way,” he said.