Does Ramos regret convincing Duterte to run?

In spite of his constructive criticisms against the administration, former President Fidel Ramos on Monday said he did not regret influencing President Rodrigo Duterte to seek the highest position in the land.

“My support is always there but my supreme loyalty is to the greater Philippine team,” Ramos said in a press conference in his office in Makati City.

Asked if he has regrets in supporting Duterte’s presidential bid, Ramos added: “He still has five years and six months to recover and to get back on track.”

Upon assuming the presidency in June, Duterte started his inaugural speech by thanking Ramos for “making him President.”

Ramos, in a series of opinion pieces in a Manila broadsheet, has grown critical of the administration, assailing Duterte’s foreign policy that veered away from the United States and his initial refusal to sign the historic Paris agreement on climate change.

At one point, Ramos called the Philippines a “sinking ship” under Duterte’s leadership.

The former President also resigned from his post as special envoy to China earlier this month, following Duterte’s state visit to Beijing.

Ramos said he was not against Duterte’s pivot to China and Russia, but noted that it should not come at the expense of old alliances.

“In the process of acquiring new friends, do not discard your old allies. Do not burn your bridges behind you because we are leading to one world. After all is there anybody here who is still in favor of violence and conflict?” Ramos added./rga