‘He was more than a President; he was a defender of democracy when it had no allies left. I know. I was there with him.’
THE nation will always remember President Fidel V. Ramos eking out a very close victory in 1992 against then senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who cried massive cheating. She pursued this tirelessly before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and later with the Supreme Court, to no avail.
Before becoming President, Ramos, along with then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, led the 1986 Power People Revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. Ramos was then chief of the Philippine Constabulary.
Ramos probably felt disgraced by the dark episode of his life for ordering the arrest, detention, and possible torture of thousands of suspected dissidents or “subversives” during Martial Law. And breaking away from the brutal government, to which he was loyal and dedicated, was not enough.
It was in becoming President and turning out to be the best economic manager our country ever had, among other iconic and remarkable achievements, that his atonement would come.
Ramos has often been hailed for a vibrant economic recovery and for enabling the country to stamp out its shameful reputation as “The sick man of Asia.”
On Twitter, former Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin pays Ramos a glowing tribute: “He was more than a President; he was a defender of democracy when it had no allies left. I know. I was there with him. (During a series of military coup attempts against then President Cory Aquino) the rest just talked and hyperventilated; he and a handful of us fought. And won.
The Presidency was just icing on his greatest moments.”
The Malacanang Press Corps then fondly called him “Tabako” for regularly carrying an unlit cigar; otherwise, a lighted cigar would show a tense Ramos in the midst of the day’s raging issues that he was ready to confront.
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The people of Mindanao had been quite hopeful that incidents of “Rido” would be reduced with the establishment of the new Bangsa Moro government that leading clans, including those that figured in “Rido” had helped conclude with the national government.
“Rido” is a “sporadic outburst of retaliatory violence between families or kinship groups, as well as among communities” in Mindanao, prominently in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte and Sulu.
There is little doubt the cold-blooded killing of the father of Dr. Chao Tiao Yumol was triggered by “Rido.” His killing avenged the assassination of former Lamitan mayor Rose Furigay and his executive assistant.
Jun Dimacutac, the chief correspondent of DZRH in Mindanao, says the vicious cycle will likely continue, with the Yumols, who have Tausog blood, bound to strike back to claim another Furigay.
While the Yumols are ordinary businessmen, the Furigays are known to be a politically-entrenched and very wealthy family.
The PNP should exercise extra vigilance to check the escalating violence in Lamitan.
