Gen. Fidel Valdez Ramos, AFP (Ret.

) popularly known as FVR and Eddie, is a retired Filipino general and

politician who served as the 12th President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. During his six years in
office, Ramos was widely credited and admired by many for revitalizing and renewing international
confidence in the Philippine economy.

Prior to his election as president, Ramos served in the cabinet of President Corazón Aquino, first as
chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and later as Secretary of National Defense
from 1986 to 1991. He was the father of the Philippine Army's Special Forces and the Philippine National
Police Special Action Force.

During the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, Ramos was hailed as a hero by many Filipinos for his
decision to break away from the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos and pledge allegiance
and loyalty to the newly established government of President Aquino.

Early life and education

Fidel Ramos was born on March 18, 1928 in Lingayen, Pangasinan and he was raised later in Asingan,
Pangasinan. His father, Narciso Ramos (1900–1986), was a lawyer, journalist and five-term legislator of
the House of Representatives, who eventually rose to the position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs. As
such, Narciso Ramos was the Philippine signatory to the ASEAN declaration forged in Bangkok in 1967,
and was a founding member of the Liberal Party. According to Fidel Ramos's biography in his
presidential inauguration in 1992, Narciso Ramos also served as one of the leaders of the anti-Japanese
guerrilla group the Maharlika founded by Ferdinand Marcos. His mother, Angela Valdez (1905–1978),
was an educator, woman suffragette, and member of the respected Valdez clan of Batac, Ilocos Norte,
making him a second degree cousin to former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

He received elementary education in Lingayen Public Schools. Ramos began secondary education at the
University of the Philippines High School in the City of Manila, and continued in Mapúa Institute of
Technology. He graduated high school from Centro Escolar University in 1945. He later on enrolled with
a degree in Civil Engineering at National University in Manila. He was Top 8 in the Civil Engineering
Board Exam in 1953. Afterwards he went to the United States and he graduated from the United States
Military Academy, with Bachelor of Science in Military Engineering and the University of Illinois, with a
master's degree in civil engineering. He also holds a master's degree in National Security Administration
from the National Defense College of the Philippines and a master's degree in Business Administration
from Ateneo de Manila University. In addition, he received a total of 29 honorary doctorate degrees.

Marriage

He married Amelita Martinez on October 21, 1954, and together they have five daughters: Angelita
Ramos-Jones, Josephine Ramos-Samartino, Carolina Ramos-Sembrano, Cristina Ramos-Jalasco and
Gloria Ramos.

Military career

Early career

Ramos went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he graduated in 1950. Ramos,
along with the Philippines' 20th Battalion Combat Team and the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to
Korea (PEFTOK), fought in the Korean War. He was an Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon Leader. Ramos
was one of the heroes of the Battle of Hill Eerie, where he led his platoon to sabotage the enemy in Hill
Eerie. He was also present in the Vietnam War as a non-combat civil military engineer and Chief of Staff
of the Philippine Civil Action Group (PHILCAG). It is during this assignment where he forged his lifelong
friendship with his junior officer Maj. José T. Almonte, who went on to become his National Security
Advisor throughout during his administration from 1992 to 1998.
Ramos has received several military awards including the Philippine Legion of Honor (1988, 1991), the
Distinguished Conduct Star (1991), the Distinguished Service Star (1966, 1967, 1981), Philippine Military
Merit Medal (1952), the United States Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor, the U.S. Military
Academy Distinguished Graduate Award and Legion of Merit (1990).

During his stint at the Philippine Army, Ramos founded the Philippine Army Special Forces. And then, he
was named to the commander of the Army's 3rd Division based in Cebu City, Cebu.

Martial Law and the EDSA Revolution[edit]

Ramos headed the Philippine Constabulary, then a major service branch of the Armed Forces, that acted
as the country's national police until 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos imposed Martial Law. Ramos is held
responsible by for human rights abuses committed under Martial Law as head of the Philippine
Constabulary chief; the unit responsible in the arrest tortures of civilians.

In 1975, all civic and municipal police forces in the country were integrated by decree, and it became
known as the Integrated National Police (INP), which was under the control and supervision of the
Constabulary. As head of the PC, Ramos was ex officio the INP's first concurrent Director-General.
Martial Law was formally lifted nine years later on January 17, 1981, but Marcos retained absolute
powers.

Due to his accomplishments, Ramos became one of the candidates to become the new chief of staff of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1981, to replace retiring General Romeo Espino. longest Martial
law, chief of staff. However, Marcos instead opted and appointed his trusted military officer, General
Fabian Ver, a graduate of the University of the Philippines, into the top military post.

Thus, Ramos, Marcos' cousin was named AFP Vice-Chief of staff in 1982, became the military's second
most powerful official after Ver and receiving the rank of three-star general. On May 12, 1983 by the
former Philippine Constabulary as the Philippine Constabulary Special Action Force[10] as a requirement
of General Order 323 of Philippine Constabulary Headquarters, Fidel Ramos and Renato de Villa were
the founders of the unit. De Villa asked Col. Rosendo Ferrer and Gen. Sonny Razon to organize a Special
Action Force. After which, a training program called the SAF Ranger Course, was used to train the 1st
generation of SAF operators, which had a number of 149 operatives. Out of them, 26 were known
commissioned officers with the others being enlisted personnel from a wide range of PC units such as
the defunct PC Brigade, the Long Range Patrol Battalion (LRP), the K-9 Support Company, PC Special
Organized Group, the Light Reaction Unit (LRU) of PC METROCOM, the Constabulary Off-shore Action
Command (COSAC) and other PC Units. Later on, they changed the name of the course to the SAF
Commando Course.

On 8 August 1983, during a speech in Camp Crame to commemorate Philippine Constabulary Day,
Marcos announced his removal of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile from the chain of command, and
the creation of a new arrangement with himself as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces until AFP
Chief of Staff Ver. Marcos also removed the operational control of the Integrated National Police from
the Philippine Constabulary under Ramos and transferred it under direct control of Ver; the
Constabulary then had only administrative supervision over the INP.

When Ver was implicated in the August 21, 1983 assassination of former opposition Senator Benigno
Aquino, Jr., Ramos became Acting AFP Chief of Staff until Ver's reinstatement in 1985 after he was
acquitted of charges related to the killing. Ramos at this time also formed the Special Action Force of the
Philippine Constabulary to deal with terrorist-related crimes.

On 22 February 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile protested alleged fraud committed by Marcos
in the 1986 snap elections, withdrawing support and triggering the non-violent People Power
Revolution. General Ramos later also defected and followed Enrile into Camp Crame, and the duo
shifted their fealty to Corazón Aquino, the widow of Senator Aquino and Marcos' main election rival. On
25 February, the "EDSA Revolution" reached its peak when Marcos, along with his family and some
supporters, fled into exile in Hawaii with the assistance of the United States government, ending his 20-
year rule, leaving Aquino to accede as the country's first female President.

Of his martial law record, Primitivo Mijares has this for Ramos: "In the military, I could only point out to
Major General Fidel V. Ramos, Constabulary chief, as the only relatively clean ranking officer of the
armed forces."

Combat record
When belittled by the press regarding his combat record, Ramos responded with trademark sarcasm
(July 31, 1987):

I fought the communists as part of the battalion combat teams, I went up the ladder. Battalion staff
officer. Company commander. Task Force commander. Special Forces group commander. Brigade
commander. All in different periods in our country. Huk campaign. Korean War campaign. The Vietnam
War, and I was the head of the advance party of the PHILCAG (Philippine Civil Action Group to Vietnam)
that went to a tiny province at the Cambodian border – the so-called Alligator Jaw – War Zone Z where
even Max Soliven said ‘The Viet-Cong will eat us up.’ Of course, we were physically there as non-combat
troops. But you try to be a non-combat troop in a combat area – that is the toughest kind of assignment.

Korea – as a platoon leader. Recon leader. What is the job of a recon leader? To recon the front line – no
man’s land. And what did we do? I had to assault a fortified position of the Chinese communists and
wiped them out. And what is this Special Forces group that we commanded in the Army – '62–'65? That
was the only remaining combat unit in the Philippine Army. The rest were training in a division set-up.
We were in Luzon. We were in Sulu. And then, during the previous regime, Marawi incident. Who was
sent there? Ramos. We defended the camp, being besieged by 400 rebels.

So next time, look at the man’s record, don't just write and write. You said, no combat experience, no
combat experience. Look around you who comes from the platoon, who rose to battalion staff, company
commander, group commander, which is like a battalion, brigade commander, here and abroad. Abroad,
I never had an abroad assignment that was not combat. NO SOFT JOBS FOR RAMOS. Thirty-seven years
in the Armed Forces. REMEMBER THAT. You’re only writing about the fringe, but do not allow yourself
to destroy the armed forces by those guys. You write about the majority of the Armed Forces who are
on the job.

That's why we're here enjoying our freedom, ladies and gentlemen. You are here. If the majority of the
Armed Forces did not do their job, I doubt very much if you’d all be here.
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and Secretary of National Defense

After Aquino assumed the Presidency, she appointed Ramos as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (1986-1988), and later Secretary of National Defense as well as Chairman of the National
Disaster Coordinating Council (1988-1991). During this time, Ramos personally handled the military
operations that crushed nine coup attempts against the Aquino government. During Ramos' presidency,
the National Unification Commission was created, and its chairman Haydee Yorac, together with Ramos,
recommended to President Aquino to grant amnesty to the rebel military officers of the Reform the
Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by Col. Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan.

1992 Presidential Election

In December 1991, Ramos declared his candidacy for President. However, he lost the nomination of the
then-dominant party Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) to House Speaker Ramon Mitra, Jr. Days
later, he bolted from the party LDP and cried foul and founded his own party, the Partido Lakas Tao
(People Power Party), inviting Cebu Governor Emilio Mario Osmeña to be his running mate as his Vice
Presidential candidate. The party formed a coalition with the National Union of Christian Democrats
(NUCD) of Senator Raul Manglapus and the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (UMDP) of
Ambassador Sanchez Ali. Ramos and Osmeña, together with Congressman (later House Speaker) Jose de
Venecia, campaigned for economic reforms and improved national security and unity.

He won the seven-way race on May 11, 1992, narrowly defeating popular Agrarian Reform Secretary
Miriam Defensor Santiago. His running mate, Governor Osmeña, lost to Senator Joseph Estrada as Vice
President. Despite winning, he garnered only 23.58% of the vote, the lowest plurality in the country's
history. The election results were marred by allegations of fraud as Santiago was leading the race for the
first five days of counting but became second after a nationwide energy black-out, putting Ramos in first
place. International media were already calling Santiago as the president-elect but withdrew because of
the sudden change in positions. Santiago filed an electoral protest, but it was eventually junked by the
Supreme Court. The quote, "Miriam won in the elections, but lost in the counting." became popular
nationwide. These allegations were resurrected when Wikileaks, in September 2011, released US
Embassy reports that Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi contributed Php5 million to finance Ramos’s
campaign. Philippine election laws prohibit accepting contribution from foreigners.

Presidency

At the time of his accession in 1992, he was the first Protestant President of the majority-Catholic
country and the only Filipino officer in history to have held every rank in the Philippine military from
Second Lieutenant to Commander-in-Chief. He is also the second oldest person at the age of 64 to
assume the presidency following Sergio Osmeña.

The first three years of his administration were characterised by an economic boom, technological
development, political stability and efficient delivery of basic needs to the people. He advocated party
platforms as outline and agenda for governance. He was the first Christian Democrat to be elected in the
country, being the founder of Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats Party). He was one of the most
influential leaders and the unofficial spokesman of liberal democracy in Asia.

Power crisis

The Philippines then was experiencing widespread blackouts due to huge demand for electricity and
antiquity of power plants, the abolishment of the Department of Energy and discontinuation of the
Bataan Nuclear Power Plant during the Aquino administration. During his State of the Nation address on
July 27, 1992, he requested that the Congress enact a law that would create an Energy Department that
would plan and manage the Philippines' energy demands. Congress not only created an Energy
Department but gave him special emergency powers to resolve the power crisis. Using the powers given
to him, Ramos issued licenses to independent power producers (IPP) to construct power plants within
24 months. Ramos issued supply contracts that guaranteed the government would buy whatever power
the IPPs produced under the contract in U.S. dollars to entice investments in power plants. This became
a problem during the East Asian Financial Crisis when the demand for electricity contracted and the
Philippine peso lost half of its value.

Ramos personally pushed for the speedy approval of some of the most expensive power deals, and
justified signing more contracts despite warnings from within the government and the World Bank that
an impending oversupply of electricity could push up prices, a situation that persists in the Philippines
up to the present. Individuals linked to Ramos lobbied for the approval of some of the contracts for
independent power producers (IPPs), which came with numerous other deals, including lucrative legal,
technical, and financial consultancies that were given to individuals and companies close to the former
president. Among the deals tied to IPP projects were insurance contracts in which companies made
millions of dollars in commissions alone. All the IPP contracts came with attractive incentives and
guarantees. Every contract was designed to give IPP creditors some degree of comfort in financing
ventures that would usually involve huge capital and risks. Most IPPs were funded by foreign loans
secured with a form of government guarantee or performance undertaking, which meant that the
Philippine government would pay for the loans if the IPPs defaulted. The Ramos government continued
signing IPP contracts even after the power crisis had been considered solved by the end of 1993. The
World Bank came up with a report in 1994 warning that power rates may rise if the government
continued to enter into more IPP contracts that would mean excess power. The World Bank questioned
the ambitious projections of the government on economic growth and power demand from 1994 to
1998.

It also warned that the power generated by private utilities' IPPs could duplicate those of the National
Power Corporation and create an overcapacity. The World Bank said that the factors create considerable
uncertainty in power demand, like substantial overcapacity, particularly under take-or-pay conditions,
would require considerable tariff increases that would be unpopular with the public. It was said that,
presidents since Corazon Aquino catered mostly to the needs of big business for power and allowed the
private sector to profit from this lucrative industry rather than craft an energy plan that would meet the
needs of the Filipinos.

The country was considered risky by investors due to previous coup attempts by military adventurists
led by Gregorio Honasan, and experienced blackouts at an almost daily basis lasting 4–12 hours during
the term of President Aquino. The low supply of power and perceived instability had previously held
back investments and modernization in the country. Under Ramos, the Philippines was a pioneer in the
Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme where private investors are invited to build certain government
projects (i.e. tollways, powerplants, railways, etc.), make money by charging users, and transfer
operation to the government after a set amount of time.

Economic reforms

During his administration, Ramos began implementing economic reforms intended to open up the once-
closed national economy, encourage private enterprise, invite more foreign and domestic investment,
and reduce corruption. Ramos was also known as the most-traveled Philippine President compared to
his predecessors with numerous foreign trips abroad, generating about US$20 billion worth of foreign
investments to the Philippines. To ensure a positive financial outlook on the Philippines, Ramos led the
4th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Summit in the Philippines on November 1996.

Under his administration, the Philippines enjoyed economic growth and stability. The Philippine Stock
Exchange in the mid-1990s was one of the best in the world and his visions of 'Philippines 2000' that led
the country into a newly industrialized country in the world and the "Tiger Cub Economy in Asia".

Philippines 2000 Five-Point Program:

Asian financial crisis

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which started in Thailand, was a major blow to the Ramos
administration. The economy was hit by currency devaluation. The same was true for the Thai baht,
Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah. Growth fell to about −0.6% in 1998 from 5.2% in 1997, but
recovered to 3.4% by 1999. It also resulted to the shutdown of some businesses, a decline in
importation, a rising unemployment rate and an unstable financial sector.

Clark Centennial Expo Scandal

Supposedly, one of his notable contributions to the Philippines was the revival of nationalistic spirit by
embarking on a massive promotion campaign for the centennial of Philippine Independence celebrated
on June 12, 1998. However, charges of alleged massive corruption or misuse of funds blemished the
resulting programs and various projects, one of which was the Centennial Expo and Amphitheater at the
former Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Pampanga, supposedly Ramos' pet project. The commemorative
projects, particularly those undertaken at Clark, were hounded by illegal electioneering and corruption
controversies even years after the Centennial celebrations.

A special report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) showed how the projects
relating to the Expo site not only revealed the extravagance and inefficiency of the administration, but
also served as convenient vehicle to effect election fund-raising for the LAKAS political party of Ramos at
the expense of the tax-paying Filipinos and in violation of the Election Code. The Centennial Expo
Pilipino project, intended to be the centerpiece for the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the
country's independence from Spain, also earned extensive criticisms for being an expensive white
elephant project that disadvantaged the government at the cost of P9 billion, or 1.7 percent of the
country's 1998 national budget. Six ranking Ramos cabinet members and officials, headed by Salvador
Laurel (former Vice-President), chairman of the Centennial Commission, were cleared by the
Ombudsman and Sandigan Bayan (People's Court).

In 2011, Wikileaks released a leaked 1994 diplomatic note from the US Embassy in Manila, recounting a
private conversation between a diplomat and Joel de los Santos, a retired Filipino university professor
who specialized in Islamic affairs. De los Santos alleged that Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi had
channeled $200,000 (5 million pesos) to Ramos' 1992 election campaign. Ramos dismissed the claim as
"hearsay by itself, and is further based on a string of successive hearsay conversations" and challenged
anyone who believed the claim to produce evidence.

Charter Change

During his final years in office, Ramos tried to amend the country's 1987 constitution; a process
popularly known to many Filipinos as Charter Change or the so-called "Cha-Cha". Widespread protests
led by Corazon Aquino and the Catholic Church stopped him from pushing through with the plan.
Political analysts were divided as to whether Ramos really wanted to use Cha-Cha to extend his
presidency or only to imbalance his opponents, as the next presidential election neared. He also
intended to extend the term limits of the presidency to remain in power but her political rival Miriam
Defensor-Santiago went to the Supreme Court and negated extending the term limit of the president,
which preserved democracy at the time.

Post-Presidency

In January 2001, Ramos was instrumental in the success of the so-called second EDSA Revolution that
deposed Philippine president Joseph Estrada and placed then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in
the presidential seat.

Ramos is currently the Chairman Emeritus of the Lakas CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats) Party,
formerly known as Lakas NUCD-UMDP or the Partido Lakas Tao-National Union of Christian Democrats-
Union of Muslim Democrats of the Philippines.

Hello Garci Scandal

At the height of the election-rigging scandal in July 2005, Ramos publicly convinced President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo not to resign from office.[citation needed] Ramos, who was also hounded by charges
of electoral fraud during the 1992 elections which were never proven in the Supreme Court, repeatedly
stated that the scandal is nowhere as grave as that of People Power Revolutions of 1986 and 2001, citing
factors such as the stagnant Philippine economy in the final years of the Marcos regime as well as the
allegedly massive corruption of the Estrada administration.

Source: List of Presidents of the Philippines - Wikipedia.html