born March 18, 1928Early Life and Career
Fidel Ramos was born on March 18, 1928 in Lingayen, Pangasinan. His father, Narciso Ramos (1900-1986), was a lawyer, crusading journalist and 5-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 one of the founding fathers of the Liberal Party. His mother, Angela Valdez-Ramos (1905-1977), was an educator, woman suffragette and daughter of the respected Valdez clan of Batac, Ilocos Norte making him a second degree cousin to Ferdinand Marcos. He took his elementary education in Lingayen and secondary education at the University of the Philippines Integrated School and Centro Escolar University Integrated School.
In 1946, Ramos, barely months after enrolling in the Philippines' National University, won a government scholarship to the United States Military Academy in West Point. He pursued further studies in engineering following his graduation from West Point in 1950, obtaining a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering in the University of Illinois, where he was also a government scholar in 1951.
In his military career, Ramos rose from 2nd Lieutenant infantry platoon leader in the Philippine Expeditionary Force (PEFTOK) in 1952 during the Korean War to Chief of Staff of the Philippine Civil Action Group to Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. He is instrumental in founding the Philippine Army Special Forces, an elite paratroop unit skilled in community development as well as fighting communist insurgents.
Ramos, along with the Philippines' 20th Battalion Combat Team and his fellow West Point graduates of the 1950s, fought in the Korean War. 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.
Ramos has received several military awards including the Philippine Legion of Honor, the Gold Cross, Philippine Military Merit Medal, the United States Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Military Academy Distinguished Award.
Ramos served the Marcos regime for more than 20 years — in the military, as head of the Philippine Constabulary, the country's national police force, and as a trusted advisor. He was a member of the infamous Rolex 12, a group of conspirators loyal to Marcos himself.
Ramos, together with Juan Ponce Enrile, the secretary of Defense, changed allegiance and sided with Aquino when the People Power Revolution erupted in 1986 and became the living symbol of military defiance against Marcos. The military followed his lead and swung the pendulum in her favor.
After Aquino assumed the Presidency, she appointed Ramos Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and later Secretary of National Defense, foiling seven coup attempts against the Aquino administration.
In 1946, Ramos, barely months after enrolling in the Philippines' National University, won a government scholarship to the United States Military Academy in West Point. He pursued further studies in engineering following his graduation from West Point in 1950, obtaining a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering in the University of Illinois, where he was also a government scholar in 1951.
In his military career, Ramos rose from 2nd Lieutenant infantry platoon leader in the Philippine Expeditionary Force (PEFTOK) in 1952 during the Korean War to Chief of Staff of the Philippine Civil Action Group to Vietnam from 1966 to 1968. He is instrumental in founding the Philippine Army Special Forces, an elite paratroop unit skilled in community development as well as fighting communist insurgents.
Ramos, along with the Philippines' 20th Battalion Combat Team and his fellow West Point graduates of the 1950s, fought in the Korean War. 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.
Ramos has received several military awards including the Philippine Legion of Honor, the Gold Cross, Philippine Military Merit Medal, the United States Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor and the U.S. Military Academy Distinguished Award.
Ramos served the Marcos regime for more than 20 years — in the military, as head of the Philippine Constabulary, the country's national police force, and as a trusted advisor. He was a member of the infamous Rolex 12, a group of conspirators loyal to Marcos himself.
Ramos, together with Juan Ponce Enrile, the secretary of Defense, changed allegiance and sided with Aquino when the People Power Revolution erupted in 1986 and became the living symbol of military defiance against Marcos. The military followed his lead and swung the pendulum in her favor.
After Aquino assumed the Presidency, she appointed Ramos Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and later Secretary of National Defense, foiling seven coup attempts against the Aquino administration.
Presidency
At the time of his assumption into power, Ramos was the oldest person to become president of the Philippines at the age of 64. He is also the first Protestant president of the country. The first few years of his administration (1992-1995) were characterized by economic boom, technological development, political stability and efficient delivery of basic needs to the people. During his time, he advocated party platforms as outline and agenda for governance. As in his case, he was the first Christian Democrat to be elected in the country, being the founder of Lakas-CMD (Christian Democratic Party). He was the one of the most influential leaders and the unofficial spokesman of Liberal Democracy in Asia.
Power Crisis
The Philippines then was experiencing widespread brownouts due to huge demand for electricity and antiquity of power plants. During his State of the Nation address on July 27, 1992, he requested Congress to enact a law that would create an energy department that would plan and manage the Philippines' energy demands. Congress only created an energy department but gave him special constitutional 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. The power crisis was resolved in 1994.
Unfortunately, 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 its value. This caused the Philippine price of electricity to become the second highest in Asia, after Japan.
The country was considered risky by investors due to previous coup attempts by military adventurists led by Gregorio Honasan and experienced brownouts at an almost daily basis lasting 4-12 hours before he issued IPP licences. The low supply of power and perceived instability held back investments and modernization in the country. In addition, 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. As there was no literature or previous experience to such a scheme, most early contracts put a large and undue amount of risk on the government in cases of unfavorable changes in the business environment. Given such factors, most experts and academics considered the generous IPP supply contracts an understandable error and an honest mistake. However, due to the subjective nature of the circumstances, this is still highly debated.