Fifth of a series

PRESIDENT Fidel Valdez Ramos (FVR) is an enigmatic figure in the country's contemporary history. He was a strategist and a master tactician. More importantly, he understood the opportunities handed to him by fate, more by serendipity than by conscious choice: cousin of President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and his general, defense secretary Enrile's subordinate but co-equal during the military uprising — 1986 People Power Revolution, and eventually President Cory's savior, defense secretary and successor. Like all presidents, they all did some good. FVR's regime experienced economic growth and stability. Philippines Vision 2000 was FVR's socioeconomic program that started the country toward industrialization by the turn of the century and beyond, having gained the status of "Tiger Cub Economy in Asia"; to sit at the table of those that achieved the status of tiger economies — Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

Free markets and free trade were ingrained in Ramos. This was predictable of the 12th Philippine president, as he was steeped in the economic culture of America, having been trained at West Point, the bastion and cradle of America's military-industrial complex that will prove to be the boon and bane of America's hegemony.

A free marketer, FVR sought to break up monopolies. His mantra has always been to create a more level playing field, allowing smaller businesses to compete and innovate. He did well pursuing policies to liberalize and regulate the stagnant telecommunications sector where the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) long dominated. The sale of Fort Bonifacio (Bonifacio Global City) had positive effects on urban development, boosting construction, real estate, retail and services, spurring foreign direct investments. On the other hand, the gentrification of the metropolis elicited concerns about the displacement of informal settlers and the affordability of housing to the masses.

But there were near misses, too. From the breakdowns of government-owned and -controlled companies, they inevitably ended in the hands of the oligarchy in cahoots with their allies, the political dynasties. For one, we had a thriving steel industry in Southeast Asia in the 1950s-1960s, contributing to our industrialization and supporting infrastructure development, but FVR's liberalization opening the economy to foreign competition resulted in a flood of imported steel products that were cheaper than locally produced steel leading to our mills shutting down. National Steel Corp. (NSC), one of Asia's largest, folded up. Government's temporary subsidies and protection could have helped — simply mirroring the other countries' own subsidies.

Armed Forces modernization

The modernization of the armed services — Air Force, Navy and Army — was the raison d'etre for the sale of military-owned lands. There was even a law enacted in 1995, RA 7898, the AFP Modernization Act. The 240-hectare property was then disposed of at P34,000 per square meter, touted as the local real estate deal of the century. There were questions on whether the monies were used per the intent of the law, hinting at leakages from the sale. Suspicions of corruption were pervasive. And the flurry of asset disposals and monopoly breakup during the six years of FVR's regime was fraught with anomalies, a blight to his legacy passing on to the next administration of President Joseph "Erap" Estrada.

Centennial Expo Pilipino project

Meant to showcase the progress of the country in a series of celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Philippine Independence proclaimed in 1898, the initiatives were placed under the National Centennial Commission (NCC). The site of the exhibition was built at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga. The centerpiece was the 35,000-seat amphitheater, which was to be the site for concerts, ecumenical services and political rallies costing P3.5 to P9 billion, roughly equivalent to 1.7 percent of the country's 1998 national budget.

The building of the facilities was riddled with graft and bidding irregularities. The unfinished structure for a time became a white elephant. This was later used by the subsequent administrations of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Estrada. An investigative report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) revealed the extravagance and inefficiency of the Ramos administration.

Much of the funds were believed to have been diverted to the coffers of the Lakas political party of FVR. Six high-ranking Ramos cabinet members and officials, led by chairman Salvador Laurel (former Philippine vice president) of the Centennial Commission, were charged in court for these anomalies. But it took the humiliatingly personal appearance of the president himself before the congressional committee investigation in October 1988 to help exonerate said officials of any wrongdoing. They were subsequently cleared by the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan.

PEA-Amari scandal

This anomalous deal involved the acquisition of 158 hectares of reclaimed land on Manila Bay that was to be converted into "Freedom Islands." The deal forged in April 1995 was approved by FVR. On Nov. 29, 1996, the Public Estates Authority (PEA), a parastatal, entered into an agreement with Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp., an Italian-Thai consortium, as part of the Ramos administration's Manila Bay Master Development Plan (MBMDP). The deal involved the sale of mostly reclaimed prime government land to Amari at significantly undervalued prices. Government had been doing this with other reclaimed lands in the past administrations. But in this deal, the stench of corruption and anomalies were pervasive, suggesting this to be not only disadvantageous to the government but that certain individuals from both the private sector and government bureaucracy and many in the Lakas political party were involved, receiving kickbacks and bribes. Critics argued that the transaction lacked transparency and violated laws and regulations governing public land sales. Ramos denied accusations that the PEA-Amari deal was clinched to benefit the ruling Lakas-NUCD as alleged by opposition groups.

In a privilege speech, Sen. Ernesto Maceda exposed the deal, calling it the "grandmother of all scams," shortchanging government by at least P50 billion. By this time, several hundred million in bribes and kickbacks had already been dispensed.

An additional humanitarian issue involved the displacement of 3,000 fishing and coastal families around Manila Bay, fueling massive protests from fisherfolk in coalition with leftist activists and the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

In 1997, the Supreme Court declared the joint venture agreement between PEA and Amari violated the constitutional prohibition on the sale of public lands to private corporations. The court decision invalidated the deal and prevented the transfer of the land to Amari. An additional petition in 1998 by former solicitor general Francisco Chavez seeking to nullify the PEA's sale to Amari of 77.34 hectares (of still submerged areas) of the total 158 hectares sank the deal. The decision of the Supreme Court became final in 2002 after the Ramos administration ended.

President Ramos himself was not personally implicated in the corruption allegations related to these deals. But since the controversies occurred during his administration, and the questions raised about transparency were unresolved, his integrity was impugned, a blight to his otherwise gallant reputation as the stabilizing force after the Ferdinand Marcos/Cory Aquino volatility.