The Presidency of Fidel V.

Ramos, also known as the Ramos Administration spanned for six

years from June 30, 1992 to June 30, 1998. At the time of his assumption into power, Fidel
Ramos was the third oldest person following Sergio Osmeña to become President of the
Philippines at the age of 64 (Rodrigo Duterte surpassed this record upon being elected president at
the age of 71 on May 9, 2016). He is also the first Protestant President of the country and the only
Filipino officer in history to have held every one hundred rank in the Philippine military from Second
Lieutenant to Commander-in-Chief. The first few years of his administration (1992–1995) were
characterized by economic boom, technological development, political stability and efficient delivery
of basic needs to the people. During his time, he advocated party platforms as outline and agenda
for governance. As in his case, he was the first Christian Democrat to be elected in the country,
being the founder of Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats Party). He was one of the most
influential leaders and the unofficial spokesman of liberal democracy in Asia.

Fidel V. Ramos, the 12th President of the Philippines (1992–1998), is remembered for steadfastly
promoting the principles of people empowerment and global competitiveness. In 1993, he put an end
to the power crisis that crippled Filipino homes and industries for two years. He pursued, focused
and converged programs to fight poverty in accordance with the will of the Filipino people expressed
by 229 structural/reform laws enacted by Congress during his term.
The Philippine economy recovered dramatically during the years 1993-1997. Ramos implemented a
comprehensive Social Reform Agenda (SRA) that addressed the long-standing problem of poverty:
jobs and livelihood, health, education and skills training, housing, environmental protection, children
and the youth, the elderly and the handicapped, agrarian reform, and access to equal opportunity.
The country's Gross National Product (GNP) averaged 5 percent annually. Average income of
the Filipino family grew larger during his administration than in the preceding two decades. He
pushed for the deregulation of key industries and the liberalization of the economy. He encouraged
the privatization of public entities, to include the modernization of public infrastructure through an
expanded Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law. While communist insurgency dwindled to historic lows,
he achieved a peace agreement with military rebels and the secessionist Moro National Liberation
Front(MNLF) for which he won for the Philippines the coveted 1997 UNESCO Peace Award—the
first for Asians. FVR is known as the "Centennial" President, having planned and supervised the
100th Anniversary of the country's Declaration of Independence from Spain on 12 June 1998.
Ramos embarked on an ambitious development plan dubbed "Philippines 2000". Under the plan,
several industries critical to economic development were privatized, such
as electricity, telecommunications, banking, domestic shipping, and oil. The taxation system was
reformed, and external debt was brought to more manageable levels by debt restructuring and
sensible fiscal management. By 1996, the country's GNP and GDP were growing at a rate of 7.2
percent and 5.2 percent respectively. The annual inflation rate had dropped to 5.9 percent from its
high of 9.1 percent in 1995. By the late 1990s, the Philippines' economic growth gained favorable
comparisons with other Asian countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and Malaysia.
The Philippine economy took a sharp downturn during the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Its fiscal
deficit in 1998 reached P49.981 billion from a surplus of P1.564 billion in 1997. The peso
depreciated (fell in value) to P40.89 per U.S. dollar from its previous rate of P29.47 to a dollar. The
annual growth rate of the GNP fell to 0.1 percent in 1998 from 5.3 percent in 1997. Despite these
setbacks, the Philippine economy fared better than that of some of its Asian neighbors, and other
nations praised the Ramos administration for its "good housekeeping.
TYPHOONS and earthquakes are destructive natural phenomena but they help ordinary
Filipinos remember the importance of science and technology in their lives. It is during
these unfortunate circumstances that the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST), particularly its two attached agencies, are thrust into the consciousness of
Filipinos. For Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, this is lamentable considering
the importance of science and technology in the lives of Filipinos and its role in
hastening economic progress.

In April 1993 then-President Fidel V. Ramos signed Proclamation 169 declaring the third
week of July as National Science and Technology Week. The goal of the NSTW,
according to de la Peña, is to highlight the accomplishments of the DOST in terms of
research projects that have been completed or technologies transferred and in terms of
communities that the department has assisted. With the theme, “Science for the People:
Innovation for Collective Prosperity,” this year’s NSTW will be held from July 17 to 21.