FIDEL V.

RAMOS
(June 30, 1992- June 30, 1998)
 FIDEL “EDDIE” VALDEZ RAMOS known as FVR the eight president
of the third Philippine Republic (June 30, 1992- June 30, 1998) was
born on March 20, 1928 in Lingayen Pangasinan, the second degree
cousin of Ferdinand E. Marcos. He graduated from the United
States Military Academy at West point.

 In his administration the country experienced political instability

and economic prosperity. He is remembered by his slogan
“Philippine 2000.” It was a desire to make the Philippines an
industrialized country in the year expected. He was the only Filipino
awarded the British Knighted in the United Kingdom.

 Before being elected president he worked as Secretary of National

Defense 1988- 1991. With the rank of General, he also served as
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines 1986-1988. In
the celebrated EDSA people power of 1986 he was one of those
notable figures who rallied to pull down the dictatorship of Marcos.
He broke away from the administration. Defense Minister Juan
Ponce Enrile invited him to break away
from the administration and join allegiance to the revolutionary
government of President Aquino.

 In his administration as president, he encouraged privatization

of government entities. He fostered reconciliation with the
enemies of the state. He was instrumental in the acquiring of
peace agreement with the separatists of Mindanao, the
insurgent communists and rebels in uniform. This was the
situation that magnates investors hence, there was rapid
economic recovery during his administration. Dubbed by some
magazines, the Philippines was the next Economic Tiger of Asia.
RAMOS ADMINISTRATION ACHIEVEMENTS

A. Political Development Under Ramos Administration

 Peace With Separatists

President Ramos’s priority program is “ national
reconciliation “. A military general, he legalized the
Communist Party of the Philippines and formed the National
Unification Commission (NUC) to open talks with communist’s
insurgents, Muslim separatist’s, and military rebels. He is very
instrumental in the signing of the final peace agreement with
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in1996. Then, he
ordered for the resumption of the peace negotiations with
the Communist Party of the Philippines – National
Democratic Front that operates the New People’s Army, led
by Jose Maria Sison. He also granted amnesty to the Reform the
Armed Forces Movement (RAM), led by Colonel Gringo Honasan,
who led the coup d’ etat on December 1, 1989.

 Death Penalty
When he campaigned for Presidency, Fidel Ramos declared
his support for reinstating of the death penalty. Capital
punishment was abolished for all crimes in 1987, making the
Philippines the first Asian country to do so. In 1996, Ramos signed
a bill that returned capital punishment with the electric chair
(method used from 1923 to 1976, making the Philippines the only
country to do so outside U.S.) “until the gas chamber could be
installed”. However, no one was electrocuted nor gassed, because
previously used chair was destroyed earlier and at last the
Philippines adopted the lethal injection. Some people were put to
death by this means, until the death penalty was reabolished
again in 2006.
B. Economic Development Under Ramos Administration
Through increased pressure on formal institutions by the
country’s growing civil society movement whose members
primarily work with social, economic and environmental concerns.
The Ramos administration’s “Philippines 2000” economic
development plan has provided better policies and programs to
address the social, economic, and political problems of the
Philippines. Political leaders and members of civil society
recognized that the drive to attract foreign investment depends on
political stability and peace and order. Ramos administration’s
emphasis on peace negotiations with the armed position also
provides the opportunity to demand social and economic justice as
a condition for them to lay their arms.

The first few years of Ramos administration were

characterized by economic boom, technological development,
political stability and efficient delivery of basic needs to the people.
 Power Crisis
In his first State of the Nation Address, President Ramos urged
Congress to enact law that would create energy department that
would plan and manage the Philippines’ energy demands. Congress
only created an energy department but gave him special powers to
resolve the power crisis. Using the powers granted to him by
Congress, Ramos issued licenses to independent power producers
(IPP) to construct power plants within 24 months. The power crisis
was resolved in 1994.

However, such decision could have been to hasty, the supply

contracts that Ramos issued contained a guarantee from the
government to buy whatever power the IPP’s could produce under
the contract in US dollars. This became a problem during the East
Asian Financial Crisis when the demand for electricity contracted
and the value of Philippine peso lost half of its value. This caused
the Philippine’s price of electricity to become the second most
expensive in Asia, after Japan.
 Unemployment
Unemployment continued to exist as both economic and
social problem. Over 40% of the workforce was under 15 years of
age in 1990. Agriculture comprised 45 percent of the current labor
force, which was much lower than it had been in the past. In the
last decade, the service sector (commerce, finance,
transportation, and a host of private and public services) became
residual employer, accounting for almost 40 percent of the
workforce.

The unemployment rate was currently 11.4%. Majority of the

unemployed were young and educated but lacking in experience.
Since the lack of job opportunities, the educated people found
themselves unemployed because everyone was fighting for the
high – paying jobs.

 Trade
Trade had a big contribution to the nation’s economy. Big
portion of imports came from the United States. Imports from
United states included electrical machinery, cereals, medical
instruments, food waste and animal feeds. In 1997, the
country’s total imports were 34 billion US dollars while the
exports were 25 billion US dollars. The country’s trade partners
are the United States, Japan, European Union countries,
Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong. The Philippines has a
lengthy and complicated economic relationship with the United
States.

 Foreign Relations
One of the top priorities of Ramos administration was
reform of the political economy, whose efforts were aided by a
widespread sense that new approaches were needed to reverse
the country’s poor economic performance. The liberalization
and privatization programs of most countries have influenced
the Ramos administration, since most of these
nations are economically successful.
Through it, the country had decided to join series of
associations that demanded greater commitment to economic
openness notably the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC), World Trade Organization (WTO), the General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), and the free trade area
of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), known as
AFTA.

 Economic Reforms
President Ramos began implementing economic reforms
to open up once closed national economy, encourage private
enterprise, invite more foreign and domestic investment, and
eliminate corruption. Although he was criticized as the most
traveled president of the Philippines with numerous foreign
trips, he was able to generate US$ 20 billion worth of foreign
investments out of those trips.
On November 1996, Ramos led the 4th Asia Pacific Economic
Leader’s Summit in the Philippines, to attract investors and
for the Philippines to gain positive financial outlook. He also
instituted reforms in the tax system, which included a forced
increase on VAT (E-VAT law) from 4% to 10% mandated by the
international Monetary Fund and the World bank.
Under his administration, the Philippines enjoyed economic
growth and stability. Philippine Stock Exchange in the mid-
1990s was among the best in the world ad his visions of “
Philippines 2000” that led the country into a newly
industrialized country in the world and the “Tiger Club in
Asia”. Philippines 2000 five-point program included peace
and stability, economic growth and sustainable development,
energy and power generation, environmental protection and
streamlined bureaucracy.
C. Socio- Cultural Development Under Ramos Administration
Spratly Islands

A primitive Chinese military structure on Mischief Reef in

the Spratly Island, 130 nautical miles off the coast of Palawan,
was discovered in 1995. The government issued a protest over
China’s occupation of the reef and the Philippine Navy arrested
62 Chinese fishermen at Half Moon Shoal, 80 kilometers from
the province of Palawan. Following the confirmation from
surveillance pictures that the structures were of military design,
President Fidel Ramos had the military forces in the region
strengthened. He ordered the Philippine Air Force to dispatch
five F-5 jet fighters backed by four jet trainers and two
helicopters, while the navy sent two additional ships. On the
side of the Chinese government, they claimed that the
structures were shelters for fishermen.
 Migrant Workers Protection
In 1995, Flor Contemplacion was executed in Singapore
despite the president’s effort to negotiate with the prime
minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong. The failure was marred
with series of protests and criticisms to his government. The
protests caused the resignation of Foreign Affairs Secretary
Roberto Romulo and Labor Secretary Nieves Confesor from the
cabinet. He immediately recalled Philippine ambassador to
Singapore Alicia Ramos and suspended diplomatic relations to
Singapore. He created a special commission to look into the
case. Retired justice Emilio Gancayco led the commission. The
Commission recommended the forced resignation of then
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) head,
David Corpin and 13 other government officials, including two
labor attaches.
The president also urged the Congress to pass the Magna
Carta for Overseas Workers or the Migrant Workers Act. The
 Migrant Workers Act was signed into law on June 7, 1995.
Learning from the lessons of Flor Contemplacion case, Ramos
immediately ordered United Arab Emirates Ambassador Roy
Seneres to facilitate negotiations after learning the death
sentence of Sarah Balabagan on September 1995. The
government this time was successful, Balabagan’s sentence was
mitigated and she was released August 1996. After tensions
cooled off, Ramos restored diplomatic relations with Singapore
after meeting Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during
the sidelines of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in
New York City.

 Educational Development Under Ramos Administration

Despite the effort to uplift the quality of education in the
Philippines, similar problems confronted the government such
as low salary for teachers, lack of classrooms, lack of chairs, lack
of textbooks, overcrowded classrooms, and poor teacher
performance. The problems were identified and the only way to
solve those problems was to allocate bigger share of budget to
education.

Another concern of the education system was the number

of students who completed college but unable to find jobs, if
not then, they were underemployed. This caused the graduates
to look for jobs abroad. On the other hand, the entry of foreign
students continued to increase in number.