President Rodrigo Duterte and former president Fidel V. Ramos during a meeting at Malacañang. (Undated photo from Malacañang)
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night said he understood where former President Fidel V. Ramos is coming from.
“He’s a product of western education, he’s graduate of West Point. Me? I am just a local boy,” he said in a televised interview near midnight held at the Duterte family mausoleum in Davao City Public and Roman Catholic cemetery. West Point is another name for the United States Military Academy, where Ramos is an alumnus.
The President said he received a copy of Ramos’ resignation letter as special envoy to China on Monday night.
He said he is thankful to Ramos for serving the country despite his age. Duterte said he will still follow Ramos’ advise.
Duterte went on explaining why he didn’t like the treatment of the United States towards his administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
He reiterated the Philippines has long ceased to be a colony of the US. He compared the Philippines to a dog on leash, only given food if it follows orders from its master. “In our case, it’s in the form of aids,” he said.
Ramos on Monday resigned as the country’s Special Envoy to China.
READ: Fidel Ramos quits as special envoy to China
Ramos explained, among other reasons, he didn’t like the way Duterte treated US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
Ramos even likened Obama’s rise to the presidency the same as Duterte’s fate.
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