Ramos lauds Filipino-Americans

Ramos lauds Filipino-Americans

WASHINGTON (AP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos, preparing to meet with President Bill Clinton, praised Filipino-Americans for their increasing influence and predicted one would become president of the United States.

Ramos, whose successor is to be elected May 11, touted the country's emergence from years of being "the sick man of Asia". "We are now the first Asian tiger to come out of the woods," Ramos declared. Ramos praised Filipino-Americans for their strong leadership.

Switching from English to Tagalog, he said a Filipino-American would someday become U.S. president. Jokingly avoiding a repeat of the statement in English, he said: "Translation: Filipinos are OK."

Filipino-Americans have become one of the fastest-growing U.S. minorities, numbering an estimated 2 million, but have struggled to gain political power.