FIDEL V. Ramos’ recent interview with Rappler’s Maria Ressa was a study in sophisticated elder statesmanship. He was cordial and engaging, of course, and kept the talk good-humored and paternal. He didn’t sound the least bit patronizing towards his interlocutor, who seems incapable of giving anyone a hard time and tends to err, rather too often, on the side of pleasant chat. FVR, fortunately, speaks with natural candor and can be pointedly direct, as one would expect of a military man. With half a century’s worth of public service to his name, and always at the epicenter of power, there is not much FVR does not know and has not seen. His insights are so obviously gleaned from formidable experience and, now in his late 80s, from a confidence that he has nothing left to prove. When he takes Imelda Marcos to task, or gives his opinions on President Duterte’s personality, the drug-bust operations, and foreign affairs, it’s clear we are hearing something so incredibly rare these days – the truth from someone who wants to tell it.