Fidel V. Ramos

Fidel V. Ramos won the Philippine election held on May 11, 1992 after campaigning against the country's long tradition of graft, corruption, and favoritism. Lacking a strong party organization and having been criticized for having served the Marcos dictatorship, Ramos won a seven-way race with only 24% of the vote to become the 12th president of the Philippines.

As the elected president, Ramos took office on June 1992 in an austere inauguration ceremony. The festivities, however, were consistent with the new presidents' message of austerity and discipline and his insistence that any display of luxury was inappropriate given the country's dire poverty. He announced that his priorities would be reform, change, and growth.

Fidel V. Ramos was born in Pangasinan province in 1928 and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1950. He later earned his master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and saw military service in Korea and Vietnam.

In 1972 Pres. Ferdinand Marcos appointed him commander of the Philippine Constabulary, a paramilitary law-enforcement agency. As such, he was responsible for enforcing Marcos' declaration of martial law. On Marcos' orders, he arrested opponents of the regime, notably Benigno Aquino, who was imprisoned in 1972 and sentenced to death before going into exile in 1980. He became deputy chief of staff of the armed forces in 1981 and chief of staff in the final days of the Marcos era.

There was a significant decline in the tolerance for the Marcos dictatorship after Benigno Aquino was murdered at the Manila International Airport on his return from exile in 1983. General Simeon Ver, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was accused of complicity. In 1986, after Marcos apparently tried to steal the presidential election from Corazon Aquino, Benigno's widow, Ramos joined Juan Ponce Enrile, the secretary of national defense, in seizing the headquarters of the armed forces.

This inspired the People Power movement, in which civilian demonstrators throughout the country forced Marcos into exile. Corazon Aquino was elected president and appointed Ramos in 1986 as the armed forces' chief of staff. A few months later in 1988, Ramos became the secretary of national defense.

He was responsible for blocking six attempts by the armed forces to overthrow the government. In 1991 he resigned and unsuccessfully sought the nomination of the Democratic Filipino Struggle. On Jan 2, 1992, he announced that he was the presidential candidate of the new People's Power Party. Aquino, who was barred by the constitution from seeking a second term, endorsed him on January 26.

President Ramos moved rapidly but not radically during his first 100 days in office. He retained several of Aquino's cabinet members but reduced the number of cabinet-rank positions. His new cabinet choices were drawn almost exclusively from business, a reflection of his interest in pursuing privatization. However, in the later part of his term Ramos was criticizied for appointing to high government positions several retired military officers.

He immediately got off to a rocky start with the powerful Catholic church by appointing a population-control activist to a key post in his cabinet. His proposals to grant amnesty to Communist and Muslim rebels and legalize the Communist Party, however, were seen as positive moves toward reconciliation with old foes. Ramos also retreated from earlier administrations' rhetoric on the importance of land reform, despite provisions guaranteeing such reforms in the new constitution. He seemed more concerned with a restructuring of the bureaucracy that would include a significant increase in the powers of the provincial administrations. Encouraging more foreign investment, particularly in tourism, was another thrust of his growth strategy.

President Ramos married the former Amelita Martinez and is the father of five daughters.