Ramos acknowledges crisis, sets priorities

FINALLY, President Fidel V. Ramos yesterday admitted the country is facing a serious problem caused by the regional currency turmoil and pledged to “look the crisis in the eye.”

In his last “Ulat sa Bayan” (Report to the Nation) in Malacañang, Mr. Ramos also unveiled a six-point agenda which, he said, is crucial to the country’s economic stability and competitiveness.

“It will profit us nothing to lull ourselves into a false sense of optimism. But neither should we give in to panic and pessimism which will only delay our recovery and put us in further decline,” he added.

He also called on the people not to be swayed by doomsayers and lose confidence in the economy.

“We must not shortchange ourselves by falling prey to doomsayers and by just throwing up our hands in despair,” he said, adding the Philippines has been through tougher times before but managed to survive.

The opposition, however, pooh-poohed Mr. Ramos’ call.

In a statement, Sen. Edgardo Angara of the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP), said Mr. Ramos’ report was nothing but “brave talk.”

“The Ramos administration’s legacy of woes and misfortune has created such a mess that it will take the next administration to clean it up. Although the local crisis was induced by the turmoil in the region’s stock and currency markets, it was exacerbated by Malacañang’s obsession with the Charter- change drive, which derailed our economic recovery program,” the senator said.

Mr. Ramos devoted the most part of his 50-minute speech to proving that the Philippines will be among the first to recover from the Asian turmoil.

“Our currency, our stock market and our hard-earned incomes have been caught in this loop of decline. In this situation, clearly our best policy is to look the crisis in the eye, to know where we really stand, and then to undertake all measures necessary to surmount it,” he said.

He stressed the Philippines is only a “victim” of the Asian flu which started in Thailand last June, spreading to the Philippines and resulting in the de facto devaluation of the peso the following month. Thus far, the peso has lost more than 53% of its value and interest rates have soared to over 20%, raising fears of an economic stagnation.

Mr. Ramos, however, said despite the financial problem, the country’s economic fundamentals remain strong and the gains achieved during his administra-