RP's biggest enemy is political instability: Ramos
RP's biggest enemy is political instability: Ramos
MANILA (AFP): The threat of political instability is the
Philippines' "biggest enemy," President Fidel Ramos said here
yesterday, citing recent grenade attacks in the capital's
financial district.
A resurgence in political instability could threaten the
country's recovering economy, Ramos said in a live interview over
radio station DZRH.
"The biggest enemy of the country is not crime but political
instability. That is where another possible decline could start,"
he said.
He cited as examples of a possible resurgence grenade attacks
Wednesday on the Shell and the Citibank NA headquarters in the
financial district of this city and a continuing lack of
political consensus in the government over key issues.
Ramos reiterated that he had instructed the police to
"investigate all aspects" of the attacks, including whether they
were politically motivated. Police say they believe the attacks
were probably part of a botched bank robbery.
"The real problem is political stability of which peace and
order is an element and a very important one," Ramos said adding
that unity among national leaders was crucial.
He complained that after three years of work to revive the
economy, "we are reverting back to our main industry, which is
politics," an apparent criticism of opposition groups that have
attacked his unpopular economic reforms.
The groups have charged that reforms such as an expanded
value-added tax and an oil price increase were pushing up prices
and hurting the poor, but Ramos said the measures would boost
state revenues and lead to improved services and infrastructure.
He also asserted that "a budget surplus is the best weapon
against inflation."
Ramos blamed the political squabbling on "some people who are
orchestrating a hidden agenda," but did not give specifics.
"We must concentrate on ... turning around the economy," Ramos
said adding that "we must continue to try to convince people that
the competition today is not in politics," but in the
international economy.
He brushed aside speculation that the grenade attack was
intended to condition the public for authoritarian rule,
reminiscent of a series of bomb attacks in the early-1970s that
then-president Ferdinand Marcos used as a pretext to declare
martial law in 1972.
"We will get to the bottom of this. We are not trying to
create a scenario similar to the early seventies," Ramos said
adding "there is no way we will go back to a martial law
situation."
He also said that the resurgence in foreign investments showed
that his program to revive the economy was bearing fruit, adding
that "we are nearing our objective despite temporary setbacks."
Foreign analysts have largely agreed that the political
instability that bedeviled the country from 1983 to 1991 has
largely subsided, but they still complain about squabbling
between the executive and legislative branches of government,
quarreling among congressmen and the legal system, which they say
obstructs crucial economic decisions.