Happy Birthday to President Fidel V. Ramos
FIDEL Valdez Ramos graduated from West Point in 1950. He earned a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1951. Serving in the Philippine Expeditionary Force in the Korean War in 1952 as a second lieutenant and platoon leader, Ramos began to move up the ranks. He served as Chief of Staff of the Philippine Civil Action Group in Vietnam in 196668. He was the key officer in founding the Philippine Army Special Forces, an elite paratrooper unit trained in both community development and insurgency warfare. Under the Marcos administration, Ramos became Deputy Chief of Staff for Home Defense and then Chief of the Philippine Constabulary, until he broke with Marcos in the 1986 military struggle that culminated in the People Power Revolution and the toppling of the regime in February 1986.
When Ramos retired as a soldier, he was chosen by President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino to serve in her Cabinet as Secretary of Defense. Loyally, Ramos protected the Aquino government during a number of coup attempts by the restless elements of the military. As President Aquino’s team came toward its close, she promoted the retired general, Fidel V. Ramos, to be her successor. Ramos won and went on to serve as the President of the Philippines. He ended his term as the Centennial President on the centenary of the independent Philippine Republic.
We greet President Fidel Valdez Ramos on the occasion of his 76th birthday.
