Former President Fidel V. Ramos (left), who supported his protegé and now President Rodrigo Duterte when he ran for the top post, has reportedly quit as special envoy to China.
DAVAO CITY, Nov. 2 (PNA) – President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the resignation of former President Fidel Ramos who tendered to quit as his special envoy to China.
“Nag resign na siya (He already resigned),” the President told reporters in an interview on Tuesday night when he visited the graves of his parents at the Catholic Cemetery in Davao City.
Ramos was appointed by President Duterte in July this year to ease tension between the Philippines and China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
“Nauna siya to break the ice (He first broke the ice),” the President said, referring to the visit of Ramos to China.
He added that the former President also wanted to take some rest after performing his tasks for the past months.
“Nagawa ko na yong inutos mo sa akin at akoy magpahinga muna (I have fulfilled what you asked me to do),” President Duterte quoted Ramos.
The President added that Ramos also told him about climate change and asked to protect the mother earth.
“I do not disagree with him. Ang sabi ko tama yan (That is right)… but,” President Duterte said, as he declined to made more comments on the remarks made by Ramos on the issues of environment and climate change.
The former President opined on his recent column in the national daily Manila Bulletin that the country will become more prone to the effects of typhoons if the current administration will refuse to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The country, together with 200 countries agreed to cut greenhouse gasses and keep global temperature increases to below two degrees Celsius in an agreement signed in December last year.
Philippines also guaranteed to decrease the country’s carbon emissions by 70 percent by the year 2030.
The agreements were done during the incumbency of former President Benigno Aquino III.
But for President Duterte, cutting of carbon emissions in time with the efforts to boost the country’s economy is unfair as most of the advanced and industrialized countries have been releasing carbon emissions for the past decades.
The current administration sees the need to prioritize the country’s development not on the basis of the demands of other countries but on the needs of the Filipino people.