THE Philippines starts the ghost month with the death of one of its former presidents, Fidel V. Ramos. He was 94.
Ramos was the 12th president of the Republic, and during his watch from 1992 to 1998, the nation’s economy grew for five consecutive years, before hitting a snag because of the 1997 Asian financial crisis that started in Thailand.
President Ramos’ more than nine decades in life was spent largely in government and public service — in the military and the executive department. As a soldier, General Ramos notched a record of sorts for holding every one of the 100 ranks in the Philippine military — from second lieutenant to Commander-in-Chief. No Filipino can claim such a feat, and no one may even come close in a very long time in the future.
Ramos was called the “Centennial President” because it was during his term as President, on June 12, 1998, that the country celebrated its 100th year of independence from Spain. Buoying up the people’s spirit of nationalism, Ramos created the National Centennial Commission to spearhead all the programs related to the observance.
‘Filipinos will remember that it was Ramos who embarked on the ambitious national development plan dubbed ‘Philippines 2000.’ This economic road map involved privatization and deregulation of basic industries such as power, telecommunications, banking, domestic shipping, and the petroleum sector.’
The Ramos administration will be remembered for the former President’s comprehensive Social Reform Agenda (SRA) that encompasses solutions to various problems of the nation such as health, education, foreign policy, poverty alleviation and livelihood, climate change and natural calamities, graft and corruption, and the Muslim and communist insurgencies. The peace agreement which Ramos brokered with military rebels and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) won for him and MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari the 1997 UNESCO Peace Prize. His peace initiatives, liberal economic policies such as globalization and deregulation, resulted in renewed confidence of foreign investors in the Philippine economy and the creation of more jobs for Filipinos.
Filipinos will remember that it was Ramos who embarked on the ambitious national development plan dubbed “Philippines 2000.” This economic road map involved privatization and deregulation of basic industries such as power, telecommunications, banking, domestic shipping, and the petroleum sector. It also included taxation reforms, debt restructuring and sensible fiscal management, all for the benefit of the economy. His visions of Philippines 2000 inspired the nation’s private sector, academe, industries and big businessmen to work for raising the Philippines to the next level of industrialization, to being the “Tiger Cub Economy in Asia.”
The passing of FVR signals the end of an epoch in Philippine political history, and the beginning of the era of young leaders who we hope would be guided by their elders’ legacy of good governance.
