President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines in a relaxed moment with President Bill Clinton.

uccess in both the political and economic spheres have earned President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines a reputation as the doctor who revived the sick giant of Asia. Last November’s triumphant staging in the Philippines of the annual APEC summit reinforced his image as a man who delivers.
Mr. Ramos’ economic credentials rest on his success in liberalizing trade and deregulating business, which has met with the approval of world trade bodies and encouraged a spate of new investment.
The resulting rate of economic expansion is taking even the government by surprise, with the central bank saying growth estimates for this year may need to be revised upwards. Analysts expect annual growth in the volume of trade to remain over 17% in the next year.

Foreign businessmen seem to be impressed. Over US$ 2 billion of new foreign investment was pledged to the Philippines during the APEC summit alone and the business parks dotted around the islands are reporting a high take-up rate for their sites.
In the political area, Mr. Ramos can point to peace accords with Moslem secessionists on the southern island of Mindanao which have helped reassure potential investors, among his successes. Last September a peace settlement was formally signed with the principal Moslem group on the island, the Moro National Liberation Front, ending a violent 14-year conflict. This February, breakthroughs were announced in moves towards peace with communist rebels. Although several political disputes remain unresolved, the background against which the country’s development is taking place is much more tranquil than a decade ago.

Whatever his track record, Mr. Ramos’ political life is set to become increasingly complicated in coming months as the 1998 presidential elections draw near.
Under the current Filipino constitution, the president must relinquish power, having served the six-year term he is allowed. But, given memories of the turbulent years under President Marcos, who imposed martial law in 1972 and extended his rule for some 13 years beyond the original mandate, and the ultimately unsuccessful attempts at radical reform during the following presidency of Corazon Aquino, many of Mr. Ramos’ supporters are eager that some way be found to consolidate the current era of relative prosperity by extending his time at the helm. Altering the constitution to allow two terms in office, American-style, is one idea. Passing a law to defer the 1998 elections by one year is another possible course of action.

The government hopes the renewed prosperity of Manila (above) will have a knock-on effect in the regions.

Mr. Ramos may be tempted to support one of these approaches if he believes there is a danger the reforms he has nurtured will slow in pace or be watered down. However, he will also be aware that tinkering with a democratic system which is only just settling down after the Marcos years could beg unfavorable comparisons in a country where there has so far only been time for one smooth handover of power (to Mr. Ramos from Mrs. Aquino) under the new constitution.
Despite Mr Ramos’ achievements, there is a long way to go before the Philippines can claim to rank as a leading Asian tiger economy and tough times lie ahead, as the country seeks to consolidate the gains of the 1990s and maintain a stable backdrop of democracy.

The president is well aware that there is little time to bask in glory. “One of our biggest battles is to fight poverty: the poverty of the Filipino family and the poverty of the nation itself,” Mr. Ramos told Our World.
He can claim some success in tackling the problem. Average per capita income climbed from US$ 720 when he came to power in 1992 to US$ 1,090 at the end of 1995; a feat which puts the country three years ahead of schedule in its scheme for regeneration, Mr. Ramos says.
However, nearly 40% of the population still live below the bread line, according to World Bank criteria, compared to around 20% in Thailand and Indonesia and 5% in South Korea. The disparity between the richest and poorest segments of the population is also much more marked than in most of the the nation’s major neighbors, with the richest fifth of the population earning nearly eleven times more than the poorest fifth, compared to just five times more in Indonesia.

The key to a more equitable distribution of wealth is boosting economic development in the less-developed areas of the country; a not inconsiderable task, given the fragmented nature of the Philippines, with a population approaching 70 million spread across an archipelago of over 7,000 islands. To this end, regional development authorities have been working overtime to draw investment to their neck of the woods with eye-catching results in some cases. A notable example is the high-tech hub of the Cebu Island region, which often markets itself as a separate entity from the rest of the Philippines and likes to portray itself as the new Singapore.

The cities of Davao and General Santos in Mindanao and Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island are among those trying to emulate the success of Cebu by establishing export-processing zones and industrial parks to lure investors.
They hope the reputation of Filipino labor for hard work, costing little and being easily trained, combined with the tax-breaks and other incentives available for companies willing to set up in less-developed areas, will provide a sound economic base.
The president is convinced the economic boom is stretching its tentacles across the islands. “It’s not just that investments are pouring in, but we are really spreading the benefits of increased investment, trade and tourism in the Philippine countryside,” Mr. Ramos says.

The evidence seems to support this. The success of firms in more well-endowed areas around Manila and Cebu is indeed having a knock-on effect in regions once considered backwaters.
For the government, the inflow of money to the regions cannot come quickly enough. Economic success could prove a partial solution to thorny political problems such as those in Mindanao, where disputes rumble on, especially in impoverished rural areas.