Ramos: Pre-EDSA I sins are back
Speech delivered in Arroyo's presence
By Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:27:00 02/23/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Continuing "greed, apathy and corruption" was among the key points raised yesterday by former president Fidel Ramos in a speech delivered at the start of activities organized by Malacañang to mark the 22nd anniversary of Edsa I.
Ramos joined President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Makati City, which kicked off the commemoration of the four-day People Power revolt in 1986 that toppled Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship and swept Corazon Aquino to the presidency.
"It is customary nowadays to denigrate or minimize the importance of the Edsa events--perhaps because the greed, the apathy and the corruption we brought down during those days are once again making themselves felt," said Ramos, a key player in Edsa I.
Thrice he said in his speech that greed, apathy and corruption constituted a problem that the nation needed to address.
Ms Arroyo showed no emotion.
"Around the world, the Philippines included, there are new tyrannies in the form of self-serving leaders, immoderately greedy autocrats and cliques of corrupt officials that we must still confront," Ramos said.
"History might yet call us to come together again--to offer our lives and fortunes on the altar of our civic ideals," he said, underscoring the need to "banish from our political and economic life" oligarchies, dynasties and opportunists.
Ramos' words acquired resonance in light of whistle-blower Rodolfo Lozada Jr.'s testimony at the Senate claiming bribery and overprice in the administration's National Broadband Network (NBN) project.
Lozada has implicated certain people close to the President, including her husband, in the NBN deal with China's ZTE Corp.
Multisectoral protest actions demanding the truth in the now scuttled deal, as well as Ms Arroyo's resignation, are now daily occurrences.
Spirit of Edsa
In his speech, Ramos repeatedly underscored the need for the nation to remember Edsa I.
"Never before had the world seen the miracle of an entire citizenry--everyday people, ordinary people--transformed into one heroic whole.
"The spirit of Edsa reminds us that every citizen--poor or rich, young or old, lowly or elite--can make a difference."
Ramos said the best way to keep the Edsa spirit alive was "for everyone to aspire to the same high standard of civic responsibility."
He said the Edsa spirit should compel the nation to oppose "injustice, greed, corruption and apathy."
"Its dramatic moments have passed, but there remain many decisions/actions by leaders and ordinary citizens on which depend the ultimate shape of the Philippine future," Ramos said.
He said time had shown that people "found it easier to die for our country than to live for it."
He added that people had ended up bickering or "quarreling like crabs caught in a bamboo trap, with each one pursuing his or her own self-interest."
'Just stating a fact'
Neither Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita nor Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye viewed Ramos' remarks as a dig at the Arroyo administration.
Ermita said Ramos was reminding the government of the need to do something to lick the corruption problem before it got worse.
"Sabi nga, sa mundo na ito wala naman talagang santo (It's said that there are no saints in this world)," he said, adding, with the expressed hope that he was not being "sacrilegious" for making the comparison, that even Jesus Christ had to make the sacrifice to save humankind.
Bunye said Ramos was "just stating a fact" about the corruption problem, which, he reiterated, Ms Arroyo has been addressing.
"Even the President said we have come a long way in the fight against corruption. It's a continuous effort in all levels of the bureaucracy," he told reporters.
Earlier, Ramos and the President exchanged smiles and shook hands when she arrived at the Libingan ng mga Bayani for the wreath-laying ceremony.
Speaking with reporters before he delivered his speech, Ramos said he did not want to talk about politics by way of answering questions on what he thought of the calls for another people power revolt.
He said politics should be talked about outside the Libingan ng mga Bayani, adding that the Edsa I anniversary celebration was in honor of the soldiers and the heroes who gave their lives for democracy.
Ramos said the government and the media had not been paying much attention to such important issues as the economy, education, livelihood and war veterans.
He said "elected leaders of this republic" and other Filipinos should focus on issues other than the NBN-ZTE scandal.
By word and deed
Ramos urged the Arroyo administration to keep the Edsa spirit alive by spreading it "by word and deed, especially to younger Filipinos."
To do this, he said, the authorities should enhance and not diminish democracy, curb corruption and cronyism, implement poverty alleviation and social reform, and ensure the delivery of justice.
"The spirit of Edsa does not belong only to the past. It belongs to the present and the future," Ramos said.
Edsa is "a continuing revolution," and the leaders faithful to its spirit are "what our nation needs and deserves," he said.
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