FVR did us proud

IFROM BOTH SIDES NOW

MILWIDA M. GUEVARA t seems ages ago when I first set foot at the office of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington. I walked along its corridors with stooped shoulders and head bowed. I was embarrassed for my country. There were riots on the streets. Student activists were missing and were rumored to have been killed. Government was in debt and was on its knees begging the IMF for a bailout.

Fast forward to 1996. Foreign investors clapped heartily and cheered almost wildly as President Ramos entered a huge conference hall in Hongkong. I thought I was floating on air. Everyone in the audience paid a handsome fee to listen to the President and his team speak. I spoke from the heart as I told them that it was time for us to reap the harvest. For the first time, government had a budgetary surplus. It was not from cutting expenditures or just selling assets. The tax effort went up to 17% –a phenomenon considering that the normal was from 10% to 13%. The VAT base now covered services which made it more buoyant and equitable. Exemption from the VAT was lifted on many sectors including firms listed in the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). It was a tough battle in Congress and at the Supreme Court where a TRO stayed for one year. Specific taxes replaced ad valorem taxes on cigarettes and beer which plugged a huge tax avoidance scheme. The Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF) that subsidized pump prices and drained government coffers was finally abolished. The tax computerization program at the Bureau of Customs was considered a model in the region. These reforms, we thought were impossible. But government did it under the leadership and micro-management of an able President. He made us truly proud we are Filipinos.

Back home, we joined President FVR in weekly Cabinet meetings that were held in the countryside. We called ourselves “aliping saguiguilid” and rode on Huey helicopters and cargo planes without seats. We were the advance party of the President and spent days listening to the community on their needs and recommendations. The President was all ears as barangay captains, mayors and governors joined Cabinet meetings. Then, we all raced to get a space on the plane where we hang on to one another every time the ride went tough. But we barely remembered the hardships. We were with President FVR who made us truly proud of being a Filipino.

Then, we watched with glee as he awarded the 10 best programs in local governance. For FVR, local government officials were his henchmen and marines. They were at the forefront of development. Like a small boy, he threw baseball caps and t-shirts to the audience. We watched with glee as barangay tanods scrambled to get a memento of their historic visit in the Palace. He posed with them for pictures and did not mind even if the ceremonies took the whole afternoon and his early evening.

We scampered on the street on June 12, 1997. We joined the PMA cadets as they marched on the streets. We waved at Joel Torre who portrayed Jose Rizal in the Independence Day float. We clapped and shouted as we were dazzled by the fireworks that lit up the sky. We were no longer the sick man of Asia and was in fact its newest Tiger. Real GNP was growing by 6.5%, a fantastic rise considering a low growth of 0.4% when he started office in 1991. Inflation and the debt problem have been tamed. FVR led us through difficult times and brought us economic freedom.

But the years that followed were not as bright. We had impeachment, problems of corruption, and a moral degeneration. I was back to the pits as I watched FVR now on his nineties , with a throng of people who greeted him happy birthday. And then he suddenly flashed his trademark sign and shouted “Kaya natin ito”.

Kaya natin ito Mr. President! Happy birthday with great respect and affection.

mguevara@synergeia.org.ph