WASHINGTON – Former President Fidel Ramos expressed tepid support for President Arroyo amid a bribery scandal involving the controversial ZTE broadband deal with China.
Ramos, who is in the United States to promote a book on his presidency, told reporters here Monday he continued to support Mrs. Arroyo simply because there was no alternative other than anarchy and he did not want the Filipino people to have to suffer through that.
Possible candidates to replace her – including Vice President Noli de Castro – did not have the support of the people or the gravitas to become president, said the former president, who is visiting several cities with large Filipino communities, including New York and San Francisco.
“What about you?” asked a reporter.
“Who wants to go back to that pressure cooker called Malacañang for another six years? Not me,” he bellowed amid laughter.
Ramos said a categorical statement by the President that neither she nor anyone in her immediate family were involved in the controversial ZTE broadband deal would “earn her some points but will not solve the problem” of corruption in the Philippines.
He said more thorough lifestyle checks to include the children of officials being investigated were needed to ensure no one escapes the anti-corruption net.
The former leader is promoting the book “Democracy & Discipline: Fidel V. Ramos and his Philippine Presidency,” written by W. Scott Thompson and Federico Macaranas.
Hard copies of the book cost $25 each and more than 500 copies were snapped up when Ramos spoke at the Philippine consulate in New York last week, co-author Thompson said. – Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington Bureau