'Politics may derail Philippine growth'

'Politics may derail Philippine growth'

MANILA (Agencies): President Fidel Ramos said yesterday early
campaigning for the presidential election would derail the
Philippines' economic momentum.

He expressed concern that campaigning by a dozen people
girding up to run in the May 1998 election and succeed him was
delaying passage of vital legislation intended to sustain the
country's economic growth.

Lower House Speaker Jose de Venecia, a senior leader of Ramos'
Lakas party, joined the presidential scramble yesterday by
launching his candidacy, following in the footsteps of defense
chief Renato de Villa and Ramos' sister Leticia Ramos Shahani.

"I have said it over and over again, premature politicking and
early focus on campaigning ... will detract from our momentum,"
Ramos during a provincial visit to Tuguegarao, north of Manila.

Still pending in Congress is a tax measure intended to widen
coverage of income tax payers and restructure corporate taxes.

Officials have projected the country's economy to grow at
between 7 percent and 8 percent this year from last year's 6.8
percent.

The Lakas aspirants, including de Venecia, de Villa, Shahani
and Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, have languished at the
bottom of popularity polls, well behind opposition aspirants.

Vice President Joseph Estrada, a former movie actor popular
among the masses but distrusted by big business, has consistently
topped the surveys.

The dismal showing by Ramos's party colleagues in the surveys
has encouraged speculation that Ramos might engineer a
constitutional change to allow him to run for reelection.

Ramos has boiled down to its culinary essentials the stuff by
which successful Philippine presidents are made: never eat like a
pig and work eight days a week.

Asked for advice to his successor, the 69-year-old former
general had four tips: "Do not eat too much; do not drink liquors
more than what the doctors prescribe; avoid high cholesterol
foods such as lechon (roast suckling pig); and work eight days a
week."

The first three were the exact same advice he was given by his
doctors in December after Ramos underwent surgery for a
cholesterol-clogged carotid artery.

However, they also advised the certified workaholic to ease up
and to find other forms of physical activity besides golf.