Ramos takes swipe at Arroyo - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Ex-president: ‘You can’t stay at the top forever’

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Fidel V. Ramos Thursday toldsix aspirants to the presidency that being in power was not a permanentstate.

“Going up to the summit is optional, but coming down is mandatory,”Ramos said, quoting the first Filipino mountain climbers to scale MountEverest. “You cannot stay at the top forever.”

Ramos’ remarks were applauded by the six aspirants and theiraudience, to whom they presented their planned six-year socioeconomicprograms. The venue was the 10th Ramos Peace and Development Foundationpublic lecture series held at RCBC Plaza’s Carlos P. Romulo Auditoriumin Makati City.

“Bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan huwag magalit,” a laughing Ramosalso said, mouthing the old Filipino adage about being a sport in theface of criticism.

It was an apparent swipe at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whoseterm ends in 2010 and, according to persistent reports, is preparing toseek a congressional seat representing a district in her nativePampanga province.

The six aspirants present were Senators Francis Escudero, RichardGordon, Loren Legarda and Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, Defense SecretaryGilbert Teodoro and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority ChairBayani Fernando.

Why Erap wasn’t there

Ramos said Vice President Noli de Castro, and Senators Manny Villarand Panfilo Lacson had also been invited. De Castro and Villardeclined; Lacson has announced that he would not be in the running in2010.

Ousted President Joseph Estrada was not invited because he was notyet considered a contender when the invitations were sent out in March,Ramos also said.

The forum was attended by businessmen and executives of multinational companies and international organizations.

Among the government officials in attendance were ExecutiveSecretary Eduardo Ermita and Ms Arroyo’s adviser on political affairsGabriel Claudio, who were once “Ramos boys.”

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes also dropped in.

Young but mature

Ramos praised the six aspirants for the “clarity, intellect and substance of their presentation.”

He said that compared to himself when he ran in 1992, “they arestill very young [but] mature enough to assume the office of thepresidency.”

The six aspirants presented their platforms of government in response to two questions:

How do you plan to maintain economic stability and stimulate economic growth in the Philippines?

How do you plan to deal with the peace and order situation in Mindanao?

Each was allowed 15 minutes to make a presentation. They later fielded questions in an open forum.

Platform of government

All agreed that focusing government resources on modernizingagriculture and improving productivity was key to sustainable growth,with Legarda championing the protection of the environment and ruralfolk as part of long-term solutions.

Fernando proposed a stronger state through the faithfulimplementation of laws. Gordon urged the nation to revisit its history,learn from the past and start “caring” for the people.

Escudero laid down a six-point priority program to address poverty.

Roxas talked about an “activist government.” Teodoro suggested thatthe government’s economic infrastructure, health and educationprograms, as well as public investment in peace and security, becontinued.

All six aspirants said they believed that “good governance” was at the center of economic and peace efforts.

President as juggler

Roxas treated the forum as a “job interview.”

“To whom will I entrust the country?” he said, and used the globaleconomic recession and domestic problems to paint the current pictureof the economy.

He said serving as president was like “keeping the big picture insight, juggling so many different things atop a high wire, whilekeeping [one’s] bearings, principles and vision intact.”

Roxas said “the binding constraint to our development path as anation … has been poor institutions, the weakest institutions that stopour development.”

He called for an “activist government” that would be “nimble, quickto respond and professional,” and “built on the foundation ofaccountability, transparency, independence of enforcement agencies,meritocracy and professionalism.

Legarda pushed her proposed agenda on “rethinking development.”

“For far too long, our policies and strategies have only marginallyaltered the socioeconomic status of our people. The absence of anintegrated, unified, and coherent road map is the culprit for thesnail-paced Philippine economic and security development,” she said.

She called for a coordinated and integrated plan that would spur efforts toward a developed Philippine state.

“We need to fuse national economic growth with national security in the development of an integrated plan,” Legarda said.

Workplace economics

Fernando, a professional mechanical engineer, proposed his“workplace economics” as the Philippine socioeconomic developmentframework.

He said he would implement this “if I am elected president, which I am sure will happen,” eliciting chuckles from the audience.

Fernando said the challenges were low respect for labor, unemployment and failure to enforce laws.

“It is inherent upon all of us to implement and obey the laws of the land,” he said.

He also said peace was a prerequisite of development, and that political will was essential to solving the ills of society.

Formula for peace and order

Teodoro said the country suffered from a “structurally flawed political system.”

He ticked off his policy agenda for economic stability and growth:good government, continuation of economic infrastructure programs,better education, health and overall quality of life, and order incivil society through public investment in peace and security.

Teodoro said the three “current threats” in Mindanao were lawless Moro groups, the Abu Sayyaf, and the communist insurgents.

He said the formula for peace and order in Mindanao was development,capacity building and DDR (disarmament, demobilization andreintegration).

“Peace is contextual and must have an enforcement mechanism,” Teodoro said.

Unbroken country

Gordon delivered an extemporaneous speech that was the most applauded.

“I don’t believe we are broken. We may have lost our confidence, butwe are not a broken country,” he said, saying the country’s leadersshould uplift the dignity of Filipinos.

Gordon said his vision for a new Philippines was an “enabled,ennobled and free” nation through stability, unity and transformation.

“I’d like you to believe that we can effect change in our country”through “transformational leadership,” and not “transactionalleadership,” he said.

Gordon cited instances why many Filipinos were poor, uneducated and had violent tendencies.

“We don’t care enough,” he said, adding that Moro separatists and Abu Sayyaf bandits “came out because they are in pain.”

6-point policy

Escudero said good governance, strengthened finances, investment inyouth and the country’s future, environmental stewardship,infrastructure development, and making local products globallycompetitive were the key elements of his six-point policy to address“decades of missed opportunities.”

“Primarily, we seek to eliminate poverty and improve the quality oflife of every Filipino. This means striving for higher family income, ahighly educated and trainable workforce, better health care, affordablefood and housing and peaceful communities,” Escudero said.