President Duterte on Tuesday stressed there is no tension between him and former President Fidel V. Ramos as he confirmed Ramos’ resignation as special envoy to China.
“Yes. I received his (resignation) last night. I had a copy of his resignation,” the Chief Executive told reporters during his visit to his parents’ tombs at the Davao Public and Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City.
Ramos accepted the post in July in the wake of a United Nations tribunal’s ruling favoring the Philippines in its case against Beijing over the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
“Ang sabi niya, nagawa ko na ‘yung…gusto mong ipagawa sa akin. I have broken the ice between (Philippines and China),” according to Duterte.
He thanked the former leader for helping him and for his service. “I’d like to thank him for helping me and being of the service to the nation even at his age,” he said.
He said that he is taking his predecessor’s advice but admitted that they have honest differences of opinion on certain issues. According to Duterte, he has his own way of assessing things.
Duterte denied that there is tension between him and Ramos, especially after the latter criticized the President in a recent column in the Manila Bulletin. (Elena L. Aben)