BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and VICTOR REYES
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has declared a 10-day national mourning period, or until August 9, for the death of former President Fidel V. Ramos.
In Proclamation No. 33 signed on July 31, Marcos said Ramos’ death “is a great loss to our country and the Filipino people.”
“It is fitting to devote a period of national mourning to pay tribute to an esteemed leader who has dedicated his life to public service and has left a lasting mark on our country,” he added.
All government buildings and installations in the country and abroad are ordered to fly the Philippine flags at half-staff for 10 days.
Military camps nationwide flew the Philippine flag at half-staff as the Armed Forces joined Filipinos in mourning the death of Ramos, also a former Armed Forces chief and defense secretary.
Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary said Philippine flags in all of the offices of the Department of Education and schools will be flown at half-staff until after Ramos’ burial.
At the Senate and the House of Representatives, lawmakers filed resolutions expressing profound sympathy and sincere condolences to Ramos’ family.
More government agencies paid tribute to Ramos who served served as the 12th president of the country (1992 to 1998), who died on July 31 at the age of 94.
The Philippine flag at Camp Aguinaldo, the AFP’s general headquarters, was flown at half-staff during yesterday’s flag ceremony. This was replicated in all military camps, including Fort Bonifacio, home to the Philippine Army which was Ramos’ branch of service.
Col. Jorry Baclor, chief of the Armed Forces public information office, said military personnel and civilian employees wore black arm bands “to commiserate with the passing of the former commander-in-chief.”
Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said all Army camps raised the Philippine flag at half-staff “to show our solidarity in mourning the passing of our former President and commander-in-chief.”
The military will fly the Philippine at half-staff for 10 days, in keeping with Republic Act 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.
Also yesterday, military commanders read, in front of military personnel, the notice of the death of Ramos during rites in military camps.
“We had an official reading of the notice of death of the president earlier today (in Fort Bonifacio) and the commanding general of the Philippine Army (Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr) led the wearing of the (black) armed band to show our mourning,” said Trinidad.
Military camps rendered a traditional gun salute yesterday to honor Ramos.
The eight-gun salute was given at 5 a.m., followed by gun fire every half-hour beginning 6 a.mm until the retreat time at 5 p.m.
“President Fidel Valdez Ramos left a legacy of leadership, excellence, and sterling public service to the entire Filipino nation. He shall always be remembered with high respect and admiration from his former colleagues, subordinates, and peers,” said Baclor.
In a statement on Monday night, Trinidad said the nation “mourns the loss of a great leader and an illustrious soldier who truly embodied the Army’s core values of honor, duty, and patriotism.”
“The Philippine Army joins the Filipino nation in mourning the passing of former President Ramos,” said Trinidad.
Army Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) commander Col. Ferdinand Napuli said Special Forces personnel are saddened by the death of Ramos, the founding commander of the elite unit.
Ramos served commander of the 1st Special Forces Company in 1962 following its foundation. Over decades, the unit have been expanded to its current status as a regiment.
“Members of the Special Forces family, active military personnel and retired, are saddened by the passing of its founding Commander. His time on earth might have passed, but he had created something that would forever live. We will always remember and celebrate the life of this great man,” said Napuli.
In 1992, Ramos attended the 30th foundation anniversary of the unit and pledged to attend its anniversary celebration every five years.
Ramos was supposed to attend the unit’s diamond anniversary last June but was not able to make it due to health concerns.
Napuli said Special Forces personnel look up to Ramos and find inspiration in continuing the tradition of excellence.
“Never did he fall short in expressing his love for the organization. I am certain that Gen Ramos knew he was very dear to us. His legacy will continue to be woven into the lives of every special forces operator,” said Napuli.
GALLANT SOLDIER
Resolutions expressing the Senate’s profound sympathy and sincere condolences were filed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senate president pro tempore Loren Legarda, majority leader Joel Villanueva, and Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Raffy Tulfo, Robin Padilla, Christopher Go, and Ronald dela Rosa.
Under Resolutions 72, 73, 74, and 75, the senators honored Ramos for being a “gallant, dutiful, and decorated soldier” having fought in the Korean War in 1952 as an Infantry Reconnaissance platoon leader with the 20th Battalion Command Team and the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea.
Ramos also held various command staff duties as a junior officer of the Philippine Army for 10 years before leading the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) as group commander from 1962 to 1965.
He became the chief of staff of the First Philippine Civic Action Group to Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.
The senators described Ramos as “a patriot and statesman” who had an outstanding public service record as the 12th president of the country.
“As President, he promoted people empowerment and global competitiveness. At the start of his term, he initiated measures to end the power crisis that devastated the Filipino people and affected many industries,” said one of the Resolutions.
SOCIAL REFORM AGENDA
Ramos’ social reform agenda addressed the long-standing problems of poverty, jobs, livelihood, health education and skills training, housing, environmental protection, children and the youth, the elderly and the disabled, women empowerment, agrarian reform, and access to equal opportunity, the Resolution added.
The senators said that Ramos’ various economic reform initiatives pushed for the deregulation of key industries and liberalization of the economy and “encouraged the privatization of public entities, including the modernization of public infrastructure through an expanded Build-Operate-Transfer law.
“His policies and programs steered the economy in achieving stability until the 1997 financial crisis hit Southeast Asia,” the Resolution added.
The resolutions said among Ramos’ achievements is the creation of a National Unification Commission “to formulate an amnesty program and negotiation process with military rebels. He also forged a peace agreement with the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front in 1996 and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 1997 to which he won the 1997 UNESCO Peace Award, the first awarded to an Asian.
He also instilled the policy of “complete staff work” among government workers which gave emphasis and commitment in public service.
“Even after his retirement from politics, he continued to mobilize the citizenry and pushed for best practices in unity, solidarity and teamwork in nation-building, and continued to interact with world leaders in various fora and platforms,” the Resolution said.
“The passing away of a brilliant military man, politician, and statesman is a great loss to the nation,” the senator said.
At the House, Resolution No. 20 was authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, majority leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, senior deputy majority leader and presidential son Ferdinand Alexander Marcos III and minority leader Marcelino Libanan.
FOREIGN POLICY PRESIDENT
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Education (DepEd) joined the mourning.
“President Ramos was widely considered as a foreign policy president who shaped the evolution of the DFA by instituting economic diplomacy and the protection of overseas Filipinos as pillars of Philippine foreign policy,” the DFA said in a statement.
The DFA said Ramos’ numerous state visits to other nations during his presidency focused on post-Cold War opportunities, effectively raising the profile of the Philippines globally.
The DFA also commended Ramos for the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act, which it said “decreed higher standards of protection and the promotion of the welfare of migrant Filipino workers, and their families and distressed Filipinos abroad.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Philippines lost one of its chief statesmen who implemented systemic reforms to effect change at a critical time for the country.
“Former President Ramos will always be remembered by the Department as a visionary in foreign policy,” Manalo said.
“His leadership through the Philippines 2000 steered our country to greater economic heights, with his opening of the Philippine economy and relentless campaigning for the country’s economic potential to the international community,” he added.
EDUCATION CHAMPION
The DepEd said Ramos will also be remembered as a “champion for education” adding that during his term, he signed various education bills into law such as the Science and Technology Scholarship Law (RA 7687), the Dual Training System Act of 1995 (RA 7686), the CHED Law (RA 7722), the TESDA Act (RA 7796), as well as a national system of excellence for teacher education under RA 7784.
“We lost an advocate of education who believed that “while growth in material terms is necessary and gainful, such material growth cannot be achieved without the corresponding effort to increase the people’s intellectual capacity and moral strength,” the DepEd said.
“This is the task of education which, is the right of every citizen to receive, and the responsibility of the government to provide” it added.
Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and the other Supreme Court justices also mourned Ramos’ passing who they called as a “true defender of freedom and democracy.”
“He has shown courage and loyalty to the country with his years in public service, including as a veteran of several military campaigns,” the SC said.
Ramos, according to the SC will also be remembered by the Judiciary as a proponent of justice and social reform.
“During his presidency, he consistently pledged his support to the Judiciary’s campaign for modernization and judicial excellence.His commitment to justice helped strengthen the Judiciary,” the SC added.
The Philippine flag in all courthouses will also be flown at half-mast until after the former president’s burial.
ONE OF THE BEST
Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said Ramos was “one of the best leaders” the country has had.
In particular, Secillano hailed Ramos’ capability to rally everyone towards the same goal.
“His ability to reach consensus is more pronounced as he tried to weather the most challenging of times, economic wise, for our country, by getting everyone on board to achieve a greater Philippines,” said Secillano.
He also noted Ramos, a Protestant, did not have the greatest relationship with the Catholic Church but respect remained between the two.
“FVR has had his brushes with the Church, especially when he pushed for Charter change.
But, he showed graciousness and did not insist on it,” said Secillano.
The seven chambers of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines expressed condolences.
“In 2013, we honored President Ramos by awarding him our Lifetime Achievement Award at our annual Arangkada Philippines Forum for his outstanding contributions and superb leadership over several decades to achieving highly significant and lasting institutional and policy reforms of long-term benefit to the people and economy of the Republic of the Philippines,” they said in a a statement.
“We remember President Ramos for his strong efforts to promote foreign investment into the Philippines, to create jobs for Filipinos, and to reduce poverty in the country as a partner in all our chambers’ advocacy initiatives, from his visits in our capitals in Asia, Europe, and North America, and through reform legislation which he championed through the Philippine Congress,” they added.
The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said Ramos’ administration “was distinguished by impressive reforms on energy, economic liberalization, infrastructure and social reform, among others, which fueled an engine for national progress built on his twin themes of people empowerment and global competitiveness.” — With Raymond Africa, Ashzel Hachero, Gerard Naval and Wendell Vigilia
