SHE TALKS PEACE: FVR, the Peacemaker

QUEZON CITY (MindaNews / 07 August) — Our deepest condolences to the family of our beloved FVR – Tita Ming, her daughters Angel,  Cristy, Carolina, Gloria, and her grandchildren.  We share your loss.

When Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) ran for President in 1992, only two elected senators joined his slate: his sister, the late Senator Leticia R. Shahani, and my mother, former Senator Santanina T. Rasul.  I remember the meeting with the late President Corazon Aquino, when she requested my mother to be on the Ramos senatorial team.  Mama was already on the well-organized LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino) slate at the time. But Mama said yes immediately because she owed so much to President Cory, who had supported her candidacy fully.    

When FVR first met with his senatorial candidates, Mama worried that he didn’t have too much charisma.  He definitely was not a politician. 

Mama despaired over his speech delivery during the first sorties – so stiff!  However, during the campaign, we saw his transformation from a military leader to a political leader.    FVR was a quick study and he blossomed into a more responsive speaker.  It was an impressive transformation.  Even more impressive was the transformation of his public persona into the caring, sensitive and inclusive leader that he truly was.

He cared about Mindanao. Early on as President-elect, he requested Mama to bring the Muslim leaders together to meet with him.  We had that first meeting at DBP, where FVR asked the leaders to formulate a Mindanao agenda. Peace, of course, was a priority. That early, he had us sharing, caring and daring (SCD).

One of his first initiatives for peace was to reach out to the MNLF to return to the negotiating table, tapping Ruben Torres who was Chair Nur Misuari’s buddy in UP. FVR signed Executive Order  125, defining the Three Principles Underlying the Comprehensive Peace Process and the Six Paths to Peace, created OPAPP. He appointed the late Ambassador Manuel Yan as  Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (PAPP).  

The negotiations finally resulted in the signing of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement on September 2, 1996, the first peace accord in Asia.  FVR and MNLF Chair Misuari received the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize. The award honors “living individuals and active public or private bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO.”  The peace process had its ups and downs but FVR never let the downs deter him from the path to peace.   Thank you, our Steady Eddie, for your consistency and constancy.

He had a soft spot for young people and wanted them to be part of decision making.   FVR had appointed me Presidential Adviser on Youth Affairs with Cabinet rank and asked me to help him create a government agency for youth development.  At the time, a bill establishing the National Youth Commission was in Congress.  The bill was finally passed and signed into law on June 7, 1995.  FVR appointed me as the first Chair of NYC.  Meeting with him to discuss the appointments of Commissioners, I recommended that he appoint young leaders from other political parties, as part of his UST strategy – unity, solidarity, teamwork.  FVR readily agreed and gave me a free hand.  Thus, PDP’s Koko Pimentel of Mindanao, former Provincial Board Member Joeyboy Holganza, son of the late Cebu opposition leader, LDP’s Jojo Mitra, and Celine Madamba for Lakas Youth were appointed as the first set of Commissioners of NYC.   Any other President would have simply appointed members of his own party.  Not FVR.   SK National President Ryan Culima of Butuan joined, as mandated by law.  Cesar Chavez, a media practitioner, was also  appointed.  

This is one of the many anecdotes I can share about how FVR was consultative and inclusive, two traits that drove his insistence on CSW or “complete staff work.”  All of us in Cabinet learned to do CSW, if we needed anything approved by FVR. We had to make sure we consulted and got the agreement of all affected agencies.  The first time I submitted a recommendation to FVR, without doing CSW, my memo came back to me with comments in red (including edits) in all paragraphs.  The paper had more red than black ink.  I felt like I had received an “F.”  Needless to say, I never submitted a memo again without doing my CSW.

When we organized the first National Youth Parliament, a mandate of NYC, I suggested to FVR that leaders of the Parliament be allowed to observe a Cabinet Meeting.  He instructed that  20 young leaders join the meeting.   FVR welcomed them and asked that they move their chairs closer to the Cabinet members.  He also asked one young leader to sit beside him.  That kid was nervous as hell.  Throughout  the meeting, FVR would lean towards the young man, talk to him, even making him laugh. Defense Secretary Rene de Villa then suggested that the youth leaders be excused as he was going to present on security matters.  FVR said “no, they will lead someday and they should know the dangers we face.”  After the meeting,  the young leaders told me what a life-changing experience that was.  Youth participation was not just propaganda for FVR, it was real.  Thank you, President Ramos, for encouraging and supporting Filipino youth.  

I became closer to FVR when he became Citizen Eddie.  He enjoyed our visits  to his office at the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation (RPDev), with young people, Muslim and civil society leaders.  He accepted all our invitations to speak at conferences organized by the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy – on peace, on autonomy, on security.  The last conference he keynoted for us was the two-day South East Asia Conference on Peace and the Prevention of Violent Extremism, part of the activities when the Philippines chaired ASEAN in 2017.  Over 400 delegates joined us from ASEAN and its partner countries.  I was told that he might not be able to attend, as he was unwell. But he did, adding gravitas – and jokes – to the conference. As usual, he threw out his printed speech, saying “Amina wanted me to read this but it’s too long.”   FVR’s concluding message focused on UST – unity, solidarity and teamwork.  He said “There should be one Asia, one Europe, one Oceana, one World, one family.”

Thank you, President Ramos – our Tiger Eddie, our Steady Eddie – for including all of us – the young, the minorities, civil society. Thank you for making us feel that we mattered.  Until we meet again, we will remember your alphabet lessons: SCD, CSW, UST! We will care for Team Philippines, as you wanted us to do.  Kakayanin po namin ito.

Note:  Dear readers, I apologize for my long absence in this space.  I caught COVID, although I have already received a booster.   While it was a mild case, the after effects were terrible.  For weeks, I couldn’t concentrate and felt tired all the time.  My brain felt like cotton.  I do hope that all of you still take precautions – mask when in crowded places like malls, wash your hands often.

Meanwhile, our podcast “She Talks Peace” is celebrating its first year anniversary.  Do join us and listen to our conversations on Spotify, Apple, Google and other platforms.  A new episode is released every Sunday.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Amina Rasul is the President of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, an advocate for Mindanao and the Bangsamoro, peace, human rights, and democracy).