A morning well spent with FVR

Right after our plane landed from Beijing, I felt the need to speak to former president Fidel V. Ramos for something that I believed was urgent. I messaged his aide d camp and told him I wanted to meet with FVR. In less than 30 minutes, he was calling and asked me to come at 10:30. I was two kilometers away from my house so I hurriedly dropped off my luggage, ran to my bathroom, washed up and changed. In 15 minutes, I was back in the car on my way to FVR’s office in Makati. Lucky for me, there was considerably light traffic, In 45 minutes, I was there at exactly 10 am. Ang galing ko daw. Light traffic na ngayon ang 45 minutes. Dati heavy na yan.

FVR probably thought I had some family or personal problem so the first thing that he asked when he saw me was “O Annie, teka muna. How’s your family? Are you okay?”

He was watching tv when I arrived.

He likes to read and write books. A long table is covered with 12 inch pile of books and reading materials. There are also a lot of flyers and booklets about our country and economic diplomacy reading materials.

He told me there are many terrorists around the area, just observing the happenings in our city and maybe waiting for the opportune time.

FVR visited Mexcio when he was still president. We went to Acapulco, Mexico City and Panama. I used the word WE because I was there too together with DTI Sec. Navarro, Gen. Jose Magno, Tonyboy Cojuangco, Antonio Floirendo, Vincent Floirendo, Atty. Siguion Reyna, Atty. Emil Jurado, Ka Imon, Andy Soriano, Bobby Romulo, etc. Nalimutan ko na yata yung iba.
Naiwan ko pa nga daster ko sa hotel room ko sa Acapulco.

He noticed I wasn’t looking at the camera. President Ramos makes me feel older than him. Sobra syang ma-energy. Ako naman, may bus lag, may jet lag.

With then Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo. FVR has a fantastic memory, he even spelled it to me correctly.

Pinaulit ang picture kasi daw mukha akong malungkot, mag smile daw ako.

Among his photos with other heads of state, the one with Bill Clinton is my favorite. It was a perfect shot at the perfect moment. I also have a photo with Clinton at the gate of the White House, asan na kaya yun?
FVR—-“Ang laki naman ng bag mo, ano bang laman nyan, pera?”

He gave me a few reading materials. I asked him if he wrote them himself, oo daw. Ang sipag nyang magbasa at magsulat. While he was signing, I told him to promise “Sir, hindi ka mawawala ha, dyan ka lang, wag ho kayong aalis”.

Some of the gifts to him are on the wall. The painting caught my attention. Ang ganda.

He told me who gave this to him or who the artist was, nalimutan ko.

He showed me photos of his grandchildren and children and their wedding photo 63 years ago. He is a proud husband, father and lolo. One of his daughters live in the US and has three jobs.
Ang gu-gwapo ng apo nya. One graduated from Yale. Bright din, tulad ng lolo at lola.

They had a grand celebration on their 60th wedding anniversary. They had their 63rd on October 21, just a day before my visit. Dalawa lang daw sila ni Mrs. Ramos. I teased him kung nag honeymoon sila. He was just smiling. When I said “uuuy”. Pilya daw ako.

He covers the faces of people in the photo that are embroiled in some irregularity.

He insisted that I take a photo of his back with the words Philippines imprinted on it. That’s what we liked most about him, he made us love our country more.

He cherishes this photo of his and Mrs. Ming Ramos with Pope John Paul II.

He gave me some golf stuff for Edmund. He proudly announces he is the national golf champion for seniors, class 3.

FVF told me the true problems of the world are poverty, global warming, nuclear war. He said even the UN is saying that in 20 years or less, there could be a nuclear war. He cited North Korea could be the one who’ll start it. He said what’s happening in our country and the world would affect our children and grandchildren.
FVR—- “Just continue to be a good person and help others”.

Sabi nya mabait daw ako kasi merong malasakit sa bansa. I went out of my way to see him. Alam nya pagod ako sa byahe, diretso pa ako sa kanya.
He asked if I speak Mandarin. Mag-aral daw ako ng Mandarin, pag marunong na ako, ipapadala ako sa China as ambassador. I told him ayaw ko, and I am too old to learn another language. Isang word lang pagdating ng hapon nalimutan ko na. He laughed.

I only intended to stay for 15 – 30 minutes but my visit extended to 2 hours. It was a morning well spent and a rare opportunity to catch him in a relaxed mood and in high spirits. He knew I would be away beginning the following Monday. He told me to come back to his office as soon as I arrived after the holidays. His office has a treasure trove of memorabilia and one morning is not enough to show me each and every photo, medal, citation, and reminisce stories of his journey as statesman.