Fidel Ramos: a Legacy of Caution and Courage
The late Philippine president helped depose a dictator, only to see Marcos’s heir return to power.
Fidel Ramos, former president of the Philippines, in 2009.
Photographer: Nelson Ching
Fidel Ramos, president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998, died on Sunday after a life and career that saw triumphs over suspicion and self-restraint.
Ramos was the key man in the popular revolt that brought down his cousin, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., in 1986: The once-steadfast general who abandoned the dictator he had served for decades to take the side of rebels. He then became the successor to Corazon Aquino, the devout Catholic he helped bring to power, convincing her that a military man — and a Protestant — could extend the life of the country’s fragile democracy. He won election in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation by the narrowest of margins, but went on to make it a credible case for the Philippines as a tiger economy in a rising Asia. He was the most democratic of generals and, along with Aquino’s son Benigno III, the most technocratic of presidents.