MANILA, 12 July 2005 — Tough as old leather, veteran Philippine leader Fidel Ramos has given Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vital support in her bid to remain president, but is also guiding her to a graceful departure to fulfill his dream of political reform.
Ramos has rejoined the political fray at 77, two decades after he and other generals turned on dictator Ferdinand Marcos to trigger a popular revolt, and seven years after the end of his own term as a largely successful and well-regarded president.
Ramos is not without enemies and his reinvigorated plan to scrap the Philippines’ Congress and shift to a parliamentary system has drawn suspicion that he wants a larger role in running the country.
But by standing at Arroyo’s side last week as most of her economic team quit and many supporters deserted, he appears to have slowed the turmoil that had been flinging her toward the exit over allegations of poll-rigging and graft by her family.
The presence of Ramos will keep financial markets jittery in the short term because it risks prolonging the deadlock over Arroyo’s fate, said Simon Flint, head of foreign exchange strategy for emerging Asia at Merrill Lynch in Singapore. “It’s the uncertainty and the distraction from fiscal reforms that’s killing everyone,” he said. “But given Ramos’s credibility and given the necessity of charter change, it’s possible this could be spun positively.”
When Ramos left for Bangkok on Sunday for meetings and speeches, his confidence was clear as he offered to take bets the government would be the same when he got back on Friday. “I am working for the country as a whole, not for any single individual, not for any single party. I have no business interest,” he told reporters at Manila airport.
“This business of being a kingmaker or the man behind the throne is the kind of role that some shadowy characters like to play. I’m not like that.”
Influential Catholic bishops gave Arroyo a major reprieve on Sunday by not calling on her to quit, but they demanded that truth and moral values form the backbone of a political system widely seen as corrupt and dysfunctional.
The Ramos reform plan would turn the two houses of Congress into a constitutional assembly, with Arroyo staying on as caretaker to oversee the change to a parliamentary system, followed by fresh elections next May.
“The amend-the-constitution proposal from Mr. Ramos is a mere smokescreen to cover Gloria’s nakedness that reveals her total incapacity to govern and need to resign,” said Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, an opposition leader in the upper house.
Ramos, who jogs to stay fit and chomps on an unlit cigar after he quit smoking, is chairman emeritus of Lakas, the major party in Arroyo’s ruling coalition.
Analysts expect him to push for even more clout in her inner circle. Four of his allies, all retired generals, are now in Cabinet posts as the secretaries of the executive, interior, transportation and public works. Many active army and police generals are also loyal to him. But he has enemies as well.
“Ramos is not in a position to say who should lead this country,” said Crispin Beltran, a congressman from a left-wing, labor-oriented party. “He has had his turn at the wheel and he drove the country towards the path of economic ruin.”
Many economists would disagree with that assessment of Ramos’ 1992-1998 term. They say Ramos turned things around after the difficult post-Marcos presidency of Corazon Aquino by liberalizing policy, ending electricity blackouts and striking deals with Muslim rebels and army mutineers.
His military background helped him defuse tensions with elements of the armed forces that had undermined Aquino. In one famous case, Ramos made soldiers do push-ups as penance for joining an attempted coup.
A Methodist in a land of Catholics, Ramos clashed with the powerful Archbishop of Manila, the late Cardinal Jaime Sin, and former President Aquino, often over his plans to manage the nation’s growing population with public education.
His proposal for political reform in the 1990s was thwarted by clergymen and Aquino, who suspected he was trying to extend his term and marshaled a protest of half a million people.
Aquino, once considered a friend by Arroyo, has called on her to make the “supreme sacrifice” by stepping down in favor of her vice president, former newscaster Noli de Castro. Some analysts saw Aquino’s own political ambitions at play, to try to clear the way for her son, congressman Benigno Aquino III, to become vice president one day.
Political analyst Joel Rocamora said Ramos might yet aspire to be prime minister in a parliamentary system but, conscious of his legacy in Philippine history, would carefully judge his chances of success.
“The option for him is to play the elder statesman,” Rocamora said.
