The country is losing badly with the sharp, unnecessary tirades President Rodrigo Duterte made during his first 100 days in office, former President Fidel Ramos said over the weekend.
“In the overall assessment by this writer, we find our Team Philippines losing in the first 100 days of Du30’s administration — and losing badly. This is a huge disappointment and let-down to many of us,” said Ramos, who convinced Duterte to seek the presidency, in his opinion column for a daily broadsheet.
He said the tough-talking Duterte could have “hit the ground running” to meet people’s expectations better “instead of being stuck in unending controversies about extrajudicial killings of drug suspects and in his ability at using cuss-words and insults instead of civilized language.”
Ramos cited as example Duterte’s rhetorics against US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, as well as the President’s pronouncement that there will be no more joint military exercises with Washington.
“So, what gives? Are we throwing away decades of military partnership, tactical proficiency, compatible weaponry, predictable logistics, and soldier-to-soldier camaraderie just like that? On P. Du30’s say-so?” Ramos said.
Despite expressing disappointment over Duterte’s gaffes, Ramos said he remains optimistic that the President will be able to implement real change.
“We hope P. Digong’s next 100 days will be much, much better considering the entire gamut of Philippine problems, starting with poverty,” he added.