Former president Fidel V. Ramos at AIM
I attended the second installment of the Catalyst of Change at the Asian Institute of Management last 1 February 2008. The resource speaker was former Philippine President Fidel Ramos.
It was in the Question and Answer part that my interest on the discussions increased. A lot of what the former President articulated, or the principle behind his argument, pertains to grassroots empowerment, which was a concept I wholly embraced (considering my liberal leaning. He, however, is from Lakas-NUCD [National Union of Christian Democrats]). I appreciated his light disposition, in answering the questions (from at least 11 sites in the Asian region). I would write more on my take on the whole conference after the next two discussants (former Prime Ministers from Singapore and Thailand) have provided their part.
After the session, media practitioners congregated around the former president at the hall, raising ungloved inquiries, especially as his take on the challenge in the speakership at the House of Representatives. His skill in finding the proper choice of words impressed me. Anyways, media practitioners, I would say, are a persistent bunch.
I bought a copy of the book “Democracy & Discipline: Fidel V. Ramos and His Philippine Presidency,” written by W. Scott Thompson and Federico M. Macaranas. I got mine signed, thanks to Mr. Robbie Macalde.
